Supergirl of Asgard - Part 3 - Enter The Avengers
by Sirya Ebony Black
Summary: A year has past and Kara has finished her mourning period. Before she is ready to return to Asgard to face the ones she left behind the Tesseract brings back a ghost.
1. SHIELD screws the pooch

**AN:** This chapter is a few days early. Due to my beta having a life, I will be updating on the 1st and 15th of each month in and about. My chapters are looong so it should be worth it to wait every 2 weeks for a chapter. I did have some of this story done before NaNo, and I won the challenge but I still needed a few weeks to finish it. So this arc was completed two weeks ago, and I have been editing my heart out for a week so the NaNo ramble was coherent to anyone besides myself, LOL. For those worried about this story being a rehash of the movies, it's not. Read carefully. The changes in a few places are subtle but huge for later on.  
Love Sirya!

 **SoA – Part Three**

 **Chapter 1: SHIELD screws the pooch.**

(Time jumps ahead)

 _ **Oct 4th 2010 (Almost a month Post-Flash)**_

"The Tesseract has been powered up at the PEGASIS facility in New Mexico." Brainiac let Kara know over her comm while she cleaned up after a tornado in Kansas. She had managed to get to the area before the almost out-of-season F3 tornado managed to do any damage to the small town. The people by now knew to look for a black streak in the sky where her blue and red one used to be when they heard the sound barrier echo with multiple thundering booms during a crisis. She was still wearing Loki's colors instead of her own as she continued to mourn his passing into the Void.

Flying around the cyclone at over eight hundred miles per hour in the opposite direction had disrupted the air funnel, and the thing had stopped. She normally didn't stop tornados, otherwise she'd be busy almost every stormy day during the summer. That was just in the US. She did try to stop any many as she could that threatened large population centers or towns directly head-on as this one had. Even worse it was during the time when kids were normally getting out of school. The schools were in lockdown and parents would be worried.

Mother Nature didn't like being messed with, and Kara respected the spirit of Gaia too much to disrupt her needs or whims too often. So far she didn't seem to mind Kara stopping the occasional funnel. It also made her dizzy, and slightly nauseated to fly that fast in that tight a circle for a couple of minutes.

She always stayed still afterwards with her eyes closed. Most people always thought she was looking for anything else she needed to do, before she floated down to meet with the civilian emergency service people, and see if there was actually anything they needed. That was what she usually did once she stopped feeling like she was still in a spin cycle. She could see downed trees covering a major highway off to her right, making emergency vehicles try to squeeze by to get to the people in the outskirts that needed help from flying debris. She made her way over that way still a little slowly.

"Monitor how long, and what output it is reading at. Let me know if they go too far." Kara sighed wearily. She was tired, and she was more than a little sad and nervous that she hadn't heard back from Flash yet. With Loki gone, and her estrangement from Asgard, there really was only her few friends in Midgard holding her here. With the call of family and Kal El out there, she was considering leaving if he was interested in reconnecting. She did try to keep in mind that he'd have no memories of her. She also knew Flash didn't have a way to get to Kal immediately when he left, but she trusted that as soon as he could, he would contact him for her.

She moved down and began moving the trees to the side of the road. Clean-up crews could cut them up later. It was more important to get them out of the way. She could hear people cheering in the background so when she was done she gave them a fake smile and waved cheerfully before she flew back to take a shower in her home in Malibu. Tornados were dirty, cold, and muddy work.

She changed into her Kara Stark persona and walked past the towel draped mirror in the bathroom. Like all the mirrors in her home it was covered, or painted with a 'frosting' spray often used at Christmas time to make windows look frozen over. She couldn't yet look at the reflection of 'Kara' without a wave of grief, or worse, a flash of hope that died upon realizing it wasn't Loki out of the corner of her eye, but her own reflection in the mirror looking back at her.

She quietly moved past the mirror and faded into her clothes as she walked into the hallway that led to her lab. If she wasn't sleeping she was working. Even Tony was running out of projects for her to work on for Stark Industries.

 _ **March 17th 2011**_

"The Tesseract's power is operating at an increase of over three hundred percent over the last twelve times they have activated the cube." Brainiac articulated to her as she considered the schematics for the Iron Man Mark VI and compared it to the actual gauntlet in her hand. She was trying to find the flaw that Tony insisted was in the repulsor on the left palm, the one he couldn't find. He'd thrown the thing at her yesterday and said. "It's broken, fix it." She'd ignored it just to annoy him until about five minutes ago. He'd been getting on her nerves steadily for two weeks. He kept trying to force her to look into mirrors. She'd uncovered them, but she still avoided them when she could.

"Did they increase the power input to see if they could get a better return on the power, or are they doing something else as equally idiotic?" She asked as she continued to look at the circuitry of the hand repulsor. She used her telescopic vision to zoom in, looking at the gauntlet's microscopic structure. There was the issue right in front of her.

"Damn, Tony was right." She muttered with no real emotion. Six months ago that revelation would have started a one-upmanship contest between the two. Tony usually won since he was so imaginative, though Kara held her own by making his idea come to life better than he could.

She'd discovered micro cracks in the housing that the repulsor was attached to. Microscopic breaks in the bonds looked to be from a bad mix of the alloys by her estimation, but they were there. It was rare for there to be issues with this alloy in Tony's suits, but mistakes happen. Tony would likely double check the alloy mixing foundry that was strictly for his personal use.

Kara sent him a note to change the alloy mix to true Adamantium mix instead of the bastardization he was using currently that made the armor a bit lighter than true Adamantium would give him. She suggest that and even better idea would be to change to Vibranium if he could find enough on the black market. That would cut down on the stress and durability issue of his armor without adding the weight true Adamantium would. She knew he'd never get enough Vibranium. She was just trolling him by even making that suggestion. She got such little joy out of anything else lately.

The true Adamantium would be more durable and easier to recycle long term since its melting point was so much higher than the rest of the components. When he needed to melt any of the armor down later, he could throw a whole piece in the smelter, and the other components would be burned away leaving pure Adamantium once more. She'd certainly proved she could melt the damn stuff without a smelter if he was worried about production tampering. It just tended to burn her powers out if she did too much at once.

The added benefit of there being nothing left for anyone to salvage was just gravy. The garbage picking by the press, and people trying to gain a buck from Tony's competitors had gotten impossibly ridiculous. Kara had started incinerating all their paperwork and information storage devices when they were no longer needed, rather than use the trash or any form of recycling.

"Yes, they have been making such an attempt, and the Cube is now maintaining its own power. The power levels however are not holding. They are fading as the amount of power being fed it is still below activation threshold." Brainiac voiced his concern to her. "It is storing a little power each time they activate it, according to the results I have copied for you."

Kara nodded absently as she looked up the best places to get the raw materials, so they could make the Adamantium themselves. "Keep monitoring. When they screw up, I'll go in and take it back. If I go in too soon, Fury is just going to throw a temper tantrum." She muttered with a sigh as she kept working, ignoring the large pile of unopened letters from her mother in Asgard that were piled on her desk.

One more letter had been added overnight. She wasn't ready to forgive and forget just yet, which she thought would be what Frigga would ask her to do, for the sake of Asgard. So she ignored the letters to avoid facing the request. The number of letters had been steady, one a week for nearly a year. She'd look at them when she was ready. A year was nothing to Asgardians. No one was really going to care if she took some time to mourn, least of all Frigga. If she asked, Heimdall would tell her why Kara wasn't opening the letters. Mourning periods were sacred on Asgard, no one would interrupt her process out of respect for Lady Death, the entity that oversaw the aspects of all Death in the World Tree.

Odin was leaving her alone. Unless she got a direct order, there was no way she was going to interfere with the humans and their absurdity at trying to harness the power of the universe. Those envelopes were unmistakable and the Ravens, Huginn and Muninn, wouldn't be chased off if it was official court documents. She knew her mother would hope once she stopped wearing black that she'd return to Asgard and see her. In May she would end her mourning, but until then Loki was still dead, and she was not ready to let him go until she was out of time. She'd lost too much to let his passing go so easily.

It was not normal to give a mate's grieving period to a non-mate. There were very few exceptions to that rule. They hadn't had any understandings in place. While it had been discussed they weren't sanctioned, and had only in theory been a match pair. There was no one to appeal to about her mourning process. On Krypton, and on Asgard, mourning periods were regulated. There was the mandatory two weeks all, even enemies, observed in times of peace. Extended time was granted in the cases of mates, a young child, or if the loss was considered very grievous, such as multiple family members.

Given what she had already lost so much already, she had granted herself the exemption on the basis of early matching in the mate process and extreme previous losses. In the databanks he was listed as her chosen intended. By the book, that was all she required to appeal to Rao to embrace Loki into its light and guide him on.

The only other exemption she could have applied for this type of mourning was to a child, borne or fostered. She certainly didn't see him as her child. The idea of that had never crossed her mind since he had always been someone she looked up to and loved as a personal hero.

Her god Rao wasn't here, but she hoped _The Norns_ would allow his soul to rest with her loved ones. It was the least they could do for allowing the one person she loved more than any other in this universe to die. Without Tony, Pepper, and Darcy, she would have seriously just packed up and waited for Barry to return, so she could leave this universe to its fate.

 _ **May 1st 2011 (end of her mourning period)**_

Kara folded her black armored catsuit and placed it in the drawer of her walk-in closet at the Fortress. She moved until she was in front of the full length mirror mounted on the door. She looked sadly at the image of Kara Stark before she activated the change, and she became Supergirl. The image staring back at her stood strong with her colorful armor once more.

The hardened blue tinted leather breastplate had her family crest in gold across the chest. Her golden tinted vambraces were decorated with the etchings of the Royal house of Odin and her knee length red cape was attached by round golden pauldrons over her shoulders. One had the symbol of Frigga, and the other to symbolize Loki etched into each. Her deep red leather skirt fell to mid-thigh, and she wore her golden weapon's belt which had her daggers attached to it. Finally her red leather greaves on her thigh high boots completed her everyday armor. She had her Valkyrie helm still in her storage space, along with her sword that she rarely used. She still preferred her daggers, and they had the added benefit of not being as threatening to the humans when she approached them with the dagger's visible.

Walking slowly she went to the main console for the Brainiac computer. Loki's image came up as a full life projection. "It is time Kara." Brainiac told her.

Kara nodded with clear, but sad eyes. "Good-bye Loki… Deactivate image protocol." She ordered with a whisper.

The image of Loki disappeared and the image of Alura Zor El shimmered before the body became the basic vestige of the computer, a blue skinned male with white hair in simple Kryptonian clothing. It was the AI's basic factory image. Brainiac himself was a consumer version of the large AI that had run large portions of Krypton's main computer systems. Her Brainiac was the 'home edition', and only available to top ranking members of society. Her mother had been a High Justice, and her father, a leading scientist, both qualified for the AI.

Kara gave Brainiac's basic image one last solemn nod before she turned swiftly away. She left the Fortress slower than normal as her thoughts strayed once more to her missing, and presumed dead foster brother. Brainiac watched her leave. Once she had left he proceeded to reset the computer systems to lock out Loki's access to his systems. With no idea where his body had ended up, it was a security breach to leave it intact. Even after a year his systems still could not find where in the Void of Space his body had managed to be sent, if it had survived the black hole intact at all.

 _ **May 15th 2011 8:43 pm PST**_

"Tesseract power is off the charts that the humans can monitor." Brainiac reported as Kara was about to shut down and leave the lab for the night.

Kara actually stopped what she was doing to listen to the report. "Can you still monitor it?"

"Some of the readings will be distorted." Brainiac admitted with a hint of annoyance. The human systems would be on lockdown and the real-time access to the recording images wouldn't be available until they were uploaded to a SHIELD server. The power levels were so strong that Brainiac was able to assess the situation from the outside, but those readings were being distorted by the Tesseract itself.

"Sorry about that, but I don't want SHIELD to possibly gain access to any Kryptonian tech." She told it with a frown. "They have hackers who might be able to figure our language out with enough time, resources, and energy."

"I recognize that." Brainiac assured her before he continued to report to her about the state of affairs in the Tesseract testing range. "Power levels have increased, and it has opened a portal to unknown space." Brainiac told her with an actually fear based emotional component to his voice. Very different from the calm tones he usually used, having adapted his voice protocols from JARVIS when he saw Kara's stress levels decrease when JARVIS spoke to her. In this case he actually want to increase them so the emotional manipulation was called for.

"Anything we need to be concerned about?" She asked slightly worried what SHIELD could do if something big, or dangerous came through. It looked like it was time to intervene soon.

"Not that I managed to pick up. The main singularity to unknown space has collapsed, almost as soon as it formed. I am not able to read anything in the vicinity due to a secondary singularity that has developed from the left over energy surge that has flooded the room. The Tesseract is emitting a large amount of interference. The power levels seem to be dropping quickly. No picture, video or audio can be accessed right now. I should be able to pull it up in an hour once I manage to clean out the distortion, or SHIELD uploads the footage to a server I can access easily."

"Don't bother right now, just monitor the outputs and energy levels." She sighed with relief. "Hopefully Fury won't try that again. If he tries again, I'll take the thing from him for good." She was hoping to put that off until she found the nerve to open her letters from her mother. A few more weeks, then she'd take it from Fury and return it to Asgard... maybe.

 _ **May 16th 2011 2:15 pm PST / 11:15 pm Hamburg, Germany (the next day)**_

"Kara, there is a Dark Matter discharge that has occurred over northern Germany between Hamburg and the French boarder." The voice of Brainiac called aloud through JARVIS's speakers in her Malibu lab startling Kara out of her thoughts.

Her head snapped up from the search she was doing. She'd been going over the old SSR files that Tony had received from Fury last year. So far she had found two other ideas that Howard had been looking into. While neither of the two experimental ideas were close to being complete, Kara could easily see Tony making a go of both the flying car, and the laser mine. There were also a few she planned to keep buried. Peggy Carter's personal files, and the official SSR files mentions them as "Howard's Bad Babies". Kara was quick to figure out Howard had been a genius, but more than a touch mad if he'd thought making weapons like that, and then keeping the plans in his house wasn't going to blow up in his face. If Peggy hadn't been willing to help clear his name, Tony never would have been born. Howard would have ended up being charged with Treason and killed by the state. Still she couldn't say he wasn't brilliant. He'd actually designed and made a car phone back in 1946!

Brainiac had been doing a scan looking for traces of the Tesseract. It had disappeared once the base it had been housed in had collapsed in of its self once the singularity caused by the Tesseract had imploded.

She had a feeling that Fury was up to something with the Tesseract, especially as now it was missing and being shielded from detection. She didn't know who was helping them but she suspected the Midgardian Magic Sect that was guarding the Time Gem. Occasionally that Stone also went 'missing' behind some type of shielding too. Unlike SHIELD it seemed the Ancient One wasn't stupid, she kept the trust and placed it in a secure place and never touched it unless it was truly a moment of total destruction, which meant it had only been used twice in a thousand years for a period of only moments.

Her eyes flashed up from her computer screen to see the map that JARVIS had brought up on the holo-display. "How large a burst was it?" She snapped, her eyes flashed with anger. She already knew what the answer would be.

"Discharge indicates it is large enough for a single, trans-realm transportation, and the signature does not match the vibration for a different Earth." The voice of Brainiac told her. "Incidentally a large storm has gathered in less than a minute over the same region."

JARVIS added sounding concerned, "And Sir is in the vicinity of said storm inside a SHIELD Quinjet."

The entire lab was treated to a huge blast of displaced air, and a loud thunderclap as Kara shot out the room. She exited out the nearest door leading outside. JARVIS had opened it, correctly predicting that at this time she would be too angry to bother with the tunnel. He also alerted LAX air-traffic control that Supergirl was heading up at a huge rate of speed so they could warn pilots to ignore the sonic booms in the area as non-storm related.

Full heavy plated battle armor, much heavier and denser than her normal, cheerfully colored Supergirl Armor materialized over her body as she began to reach the stratosphere. She climbed until she reached eighty thousand feet before she streaked as fast as she could across the US and Atlantic Ocean.

With the amount of air traffic in the skies near Tony's mansion if she flew anywhere lower than sixty-five thousand feet at the speeds she was traveling at, the sonic booms, and pressure waves in her wake could damage the delicate airframes of regular aircraft. She normally made an effort to avoid causing problems for the commercial pilots.

Because of the care she had to take, it took her several minutes to reach the coordinates of the Quinjet, Brainiac continued to update her to its position. The storm made visibility so bad she had to dive steeply to see through the cloud cover, even with her advanced vision. The flashes of lightning created at ground level instead of from the clouds made zeroing in on Thor a simple task. Once she broke the clouds above she took a millisecond to zero in on him.

In her red haze of rage all she saw was Thor in the air attacking Captain America who was braced with his shield to take the hammer's blow. She continued to rush forward without slowing as Thor continued to fall towards the old hero. It was a blow that would likely kill Rogers if it connected, even with the Super Soldier Serum in his system.

She managed to strike Thor right in his side before the hammer connected with the shield. The blow caused Thor's Hammer to fall from his grasp, all breath left his lungs, and his body drastically changed directions at ninety-degrees, braking at least two ribs with the impact. Kara ducked her head so the tree branches hit the top of her helmet instead of her face as she continued to plow Thor, side first, through the trees and down into the rocky surface of the ground.

Back in the clearing Loki, Tony and Steve were knocked off their feet from the sonic booms that followed Kara's epic entrance.

"Oh!" Tony gasped softly, wincing at the thoughts running through his mind. "I don't want to be Fury when Blue gets a hold of him." He managed to wheeze out as he stood next to Loki who was also rising slowly to his feet. Loki gave Tony a puzzled look before wiping his hands down the front of his armor, knocking the dirt from the breastplate's surface.

Steve picked himself up and shaking his head trying to clear the ringing. His hearing was impaired from being so close to the pressure wave as she passed him. "I take it that was Supergirl? The one Coulson told me about." He yelled, trying to hear himself speaking.

He was answered by a surprising voice as Loki stepped up beside them. "Yes," He answered thoughtfully, "I do not imagine they are going to stop soon, without help." Before Tony or Steve could stop him Loki began to stride quickly, but gingerly towards the battle they could now hear ongoing a little ways into the trees.

"HE WAS A MORTAL YOU WARMONGER, TWO-FACED, HELL SPAWNING,-"

Tony's eyes opened wide at the string of impolite insults that managed to not include any actual cuss words that followed. Steve stumbled as he's own eyes gapped wide. Loki was chuckling while shaking his head with amusement.

"She never could control her temper when Thor, or his friends, managed to anger her enough to entice her to react with violence." He gave them a quick look. "We should hurry. She might truly try to kill him if she is irate enough, with no one to stop her."

Tony grabbed Steve by the armpits as he launched and began to fly quickly towards the sounds of battle. Loki faded until he was standing just outside of the new clearing Kara and Thor had created with their brawling.

Kara was moving much faster than she had when Loki had last trained with her on Asgard. She was also strong enough to block all of Thor's returning blows, though Loki could tell he was not using his full strength against her. It was a mistake he paid for a moment later when one of Kara's mailed fists struck Thor's unprotected face, making him fly backwards and hit the ground on his back. Loki winced as Kara jumped on his prone body and began to deliver body blows with her fists at astounding speed, making the ground tremble with each quick blurred blow.

Kara's eyes glowed deep red, and her long dagger appeared in her hand. It was at that moment Iron Man and Rogers arrived.

"Hold up Blue!" Tony called out, pulling his visor up. "Don't kill him. Poppa Odin would get mad... and pissing off powerful Daddies is never a good idea."

Kara's eyes never left the prone Prince. Thor had the presence of mind to stay still. While he didn't know of all Kara's powers, he did know about the heat vision, and its ability to burn through armor. Right now her stare was aimed directly at his eyes, he wasn't sure if he could survive that. He knew she'd be angry to see him, he hadn't expected her to be this angry. He also hadn't planned on getting into a fight with mortals that could withstand his lightening attack over possession of Loki either.

"Sister, I am not here to harm anyone. They attacked me first." He told her, trying to justify his actions and calm her.

Kara's eyes flashed and a bolt of energy just missed Thor's head leaving a sting of heat as she sheared off a line of hair near the scalp over his ear, making Thor wince from the heat and close call. He was lucky she hadn't sheared off his war braids.

"LIAR!" She screamed with burning rage. "Murderer! They would not harm anyone without cause." Thor stared at her in shock that she had actually taken a shot, even if it was only a warning one. "You attacked first, I know you did! You always do." Her face scrunched up with disgust and hatred.

As much as Loki seemed to be enjoying the scene he stepped forward, it would not do for her to lose faith in him when he had any type of control. Plus as much as he was enjoying seeing Thor brought low by a woman, he wanted to be the one to hurt or possibly kill him if it became necessary, not his Kara.

"Kara!" He called out. "Leave the brute alone. He is not worth the effort, and you know he cannot afford the loss of more intelligence. If you continue to try to teach him proper manners you will only succeed in killing what little, precious amount of reasoning he has remaining."

Kara froze at the sound of his voice. She dropped her dagger from her suddenly nerveless fingers. It landed tip first against Thor's breastplate but it clattered to the ground. Her body slowly rose to hover over Thor, turning in the air to face Loki and the others. Seeing him saw her drop her guard completely as she stared in shock. "Loki?" She gasped breathlessly she nearly fell to her knees as her self-powered flight disappeared.

Loki just gave her a mischievous smile. "Miss me, _My Kara_?" He asked nonchalantly as he opened his arms near his waist. The words _My Kara_ were spoken in Kryptonian and sounded completely different from her name. 'Whekara' was the sound the humans and Thor heard when he spoke.

He was in too much pain to raise his arms any higher comfortably. The devil-may-care smile was the last bit of the show he managed to put on for her.

Kara blurred as she raced over and pulled him into her arms. "I can't beli-, I thought-, how can-?" She rambled trying to find the words to express her overwhelming disbelief, her words also blurred into Kryptonian as her mind blanked with shock. She ran her hands over his face, arms and chest as if testing to see if he was real and not a ghost. She finally threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Loki gasped with pain as she squeezed him too hard. "You're stronger than before." He wheezed painfully.

Kara loosened her grip, took half a step back but kept her hands on his shoulders, her eyes never leaving his face. "You're alive!" Loki accessed her storage space with his magic and made her battle armor faded away to her regular Supergirl armor as she took in his face. Her hands reaching for his cheeks, "You're really here." She stared into his eyes, tears filling her own. Her hands never leaving him, grasping at him to make sure he was real.

Loki's expression softened as he looked back at her. "I am here." He promised her. "I would never abandon you willingly." He raised his hand to the back of her head. He pulled her forward gently so he could kiss her forehead softly. He began to whisper reassurances to her softly as he let her cry on his shoulder and tucked her as close as he could manage with his ribs as delicate as they were.

There were so few he loved and trusted, and Kara had managed to be one of those few. Her grief was written on her face, and unlike Thor, he knew she had missed him by her reaction to the sight of him. No one could fake this level of emotion, not even him. Despite himself he felt warmth spread through his chest, and he allowed himself a few moments to bathe in the feeling. He had enough control this far from the scepter to indulge in a moment of pure acceptance and love. He sighed in contentment, embracing the moment.

Kara cried and held on to him, scared he'd disappear if she let go. Her sobs were heartbreaking for the others to hear. Thor looked down in shame at his own actions since he had barged in and grabbed Loki before throwing him out of the Quinjet. He wished his own reunion had been as warm, or caring. He loved his brother, but that feeling was one Loki didn't seem to return. He quietly recalled Mjölnir to his hand. He missed the point that he had approached Loki with anger on his face, rather than the warmth, disbelief, and love Kara had.

Tony and Steve quietly walked over to Thor as they witnessed the scene. Steve's ears were already healing as they approached him. Tony was watching the scene with torn loyalties. He was happy for Kara that her favorite person was alive, but he was miffed that Loki was the bad guy he'd had to arrest. Until now he had been hoping it was an imposter. There was no mistaking Kryptonese. The language was so foreign sounding that even her real name was almost lost in the jumble of sounds. He'd only heard it because he knew Kara was her name.

"She's your sister, right?" Steve asked somewhat quietly, trying to break the ice with the strong Asgardian they had been fighting only moments before. Steve was trying to establish what he was seeing. The reunion between Kara and Loki looked more like a reunification of lovers than of lost family members. Loki was supposed to be under arrest, not cuddling with the most powerful being on the planet. The display was making him nervous on two levels. The idea that Supergirl was so much more powerful than them all and might side with Loki worried him. The second reason was the level of public display of emotion, that level of intimacy was not done in his time.

"Aye, a fosterling," Thor explained quietly not wanting to disrupt the scene in front of him, no matter how much he wished he could be a part of it. "By Asgardian Law, she is as close as non-blood can be to being a family member."

Without looking away from Kara and Loki, Tony nodded his head sideways to Steve as he explained, "She's an 'honorary Princess of Asgard', and an ambassador to 'Midgard' from Asgard since she's the closest to what we are that they have." Tony quickly explained to Steve, using his fingers to air quote. "She crashed there first before coming here a few years ago." Steve nodded quietly. He'd read the file, but it had been hard to believe, and scarce on details. He hoped that Tony and Thor would be able to elaborate.

"I hate to break up the pity party down there, but we need to get Loki to SHIELD." Black Widow's voice came over the link in Tony and Steve's ears.

"We'll come up, just give us a moment." Tony told her. Turning to Thor he pointed his finger curtly and gesturing up to the approaching Quinjet, "She said you can fly with that hammer of yours, Point Break."

Thor nodded slightly confused by the nickname the tiny metal man had called him. "Yes. Do all of you fly as well?" He questioned politely.

Steve shook his head. "I only fall." He answered bashfully.

"I'll take you up." Tony told him with a touch of authority, sounding almost like a commanding military officer than a civilian, even to Steve who had worked with both. "Blue's not going to let anyone else handle Reindeer Games over there." He said as he looked over to see the two still closely entwined. Unlike Steve, he knew the two were close, but not together, though even he was startled to see how close they were. Only Thor seemed to find the affection normal, or at least he wasn't reacting to it. Tony was chalking it up to cultural differences at the moment, but he was having some doubts about it. "So yeah, we need to get this show on the road."

"Fury isn't going to like her being brought along." Widow reminded them over the link.

"Yeah well, you tell her she's not invited. I dare you." Tony smirked at the thought. "But wait until I can start filming that shit; 'Death of a Widow' I think I'll call it." Widow didn't respond to his dare.

"Where have you been?" Kara finally managed to whisper in his ear as she held onto him, still speaking in Kryptonese.

"I was thrown into the Void." He answered her softly, his mouth near her ear, he took in the scent of the ozone and slight flowery scent of her hair. It helped to brace him against his memories. "I fell for a long time before I managed to escape through the Tesseract. I never meant to leave you Kara. I meant to keep my word to you. I'd never have let you believe I was dead… If I could have contacted you I would have." He assured her sincerely.

"The last opening!" She gasped as she grasped at his waist tightly. "You came through the wormhole from unknown space!" She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes.

Loki nodded stiffly from pain. "I felt the Tesseract sending a message through space and used my seiðr to reached for the energy when it came through where I was. When I found the cube in a place with humans, I took it and fled when they attacked me." He explained softly, trying not to gasp in pain. If she knew of his pain she would want to do a full exam of him, and then she might discover the mind link to The Other. He couldn't let that happen, the control wouldn't let that happen, it would protect itself. He could feel the scepter was getting closer, and he only had a minute or so left before he'd lose more of his control.

"You knew they had it." She mumbled from his chest. He sighed and closed his eyes with a hidden pained expression, holding back a wave of regret. Yes he had known. He'd been with Kara when they had first discovered the humans had found the cube.

"I am sorry, Kara. I am sorry for everything that must happen." He whispered while he could. It was the only warning he could give her. Anything else and he risked losing more of himself when the scepter's control exerted itself. It would stop him from revealing anything else and might strike out at her to protect the plan if she knew too much. He had hoped she would stay away, not find out what was happening until it was too late to interfere. It was dangerous to have her here. Still, it was good to see her.

Kara stiffened as she heard the warning. "What must happen, Loki?"

Loki could feel the scepter coming into full strength range, and closed his emotions off so they didn't leak back through the link. "I mean to become King of Midgard." He told her calmly, as if talking about the weather.

Kara shook her head. This made no sense and was confusing her. "You can't." She looked back over at the others. "Is that why they are here, to stop you?"

"I do suppose that is their intent," Loki smirked evilly, "at least when they arrested me for taking something we needed." Pain shot through his head as a warning. He backed down from it so it wouldn't exert itself more.

Kara felt herself shiver at the darkness in his smile. Something was wrong with his posture, eyes, and his demeanor. Physically everything screamed this was Loki. He knew Kryptonese. He knew her. His body, while thinner was his. But something else was screaming this was wrong.

"I love you Loki, but you are not _My Loki_. I will have to stop you." She told him sadly as she took a step back and stared at his chest, it was too hard to look at his eyes. She felt like she was betraying him. It ripped her heart apart to say those words, and that step was one of the hardest she'd ever taken.

Loki winced at her words but let her step back as the voice in his head told him to gain control of her when it was time. He would need her if he was to succeed on Midgard the voice decided, Loki had no choice but to agree. He winced again at the command to take her will from her when he regained the scepter.

Tony noticed Kara had stopped crying, and had stepped back. When he was finally able to hear their quietly spoken words to each other he could tell they were still not speaking in 'All Speak'. She'd explained that the times she spoke English with a stronger accent, it meant she was using the magical language so all listening could understand her. She seemed to be much calmer, and Loki was wincing at her words.

"Hate to break up the reunion party, but Loki is has a prior engagement with SHIELD, and we need to get him to there, pronto." Tony called to her.

Kara looked down at her feet and nodded softly. "I know." She yelled just loud enough so they could hear her over the sound of the approaching Quinjet engines. She grabbed Loki's arm and marched them both over to the others.

"We are ready." She replied blankly. Steve Tony and Thor all had matching looks of concern, but they all prepared themselves for the lift up to the Quinjet's back hatch.


	2. Truth and Revelations

SoA Part 3 – Chapter 2

Truth and Revelations.

Loki was attempting to seem aloof as he had been before Thor had arrived. It was harder to keep up the façade and his carefree appearance with Kara. Once they got back onboard the Quinjet he'd be close enough to the scepter to be under its full influence again. Already its presence was stronger because the ship was coming closer to the field and his will was already weakening. Once onboard he'd be lucky to even make a suggestion to the plans he was bringing forced to enact.

It took a few minutes for everyone to form up and then fly up to the Quinjet. Loki was once more strapped into the seat beside the cockpit bulkhead. Kara sat beside him and took his hand, holding it firmly. She wasn't sure how to take the explanation Loki had given her. It had left her confused and concerned. She ignored everyone else. Loki just rested his head back against his seat, and closed his eyes, seeming to meditate.

Everyone else was giving her space to think, even Thor. From his expression she felt it likely had more to do with him being lost in his own thoughts, and possibly the throbbing pain in his ribs than purposefully giving her space. She was sure she had broken several of the ribs on at least his left side between hitting him at about Mach 2 and her punches, which had dented his armor. She'd seen him touching the area gingerly as they had readied themselves to take off.

She tried to put together the things Loki had said to her while they had been speaking together, to form any type of sensible explanation. Sitting there with his hand in hers she was trying her best to ignore the confusion and anger that were warring with her happiness at seeing him alive. That feeling of something being wrong tore at her. Loki was not acting like himself, or at least not like himself with her. He had many faces, but he rarely wore his public mask when talking to her privately.

She knew this was truly Loki. His aura was correct, if a bit weak. That could not be faked, even with a clone made from his own body. It was his actions and plans for domination of Midgard. They were not the plans of a carefully planned strategist. The straightforward attacking and posturing; it screamed 'Thor and friends', not the quiet subtleties of Loki's types of plans.

This brutish strategy and tactics were not the way Loki operated. Strength and frontal assault was not a tactic to Loki, it was an advantage to be used when everything else failed, or when surprise and terrain were available. Even then he often used other advantages to expand the probability of success.

Then there was the conversation they had had with mother on Asgard while he'd been king. They had discussed this very issue. He knew it couldn't work. He knew far more than Thor or any other about the Realm of Midgard. So why would he try the exact plan they had all agreed was doomed to fail? Even Loki could not make this plan work, with every advantage. It was doomed to fail; period.

She could also sense he was lying to her about the Tesseract. He had taken it, and fled. That was planned she felt, not a moment of opportunity that he had tried to paint it. That in itself wasn't surprising since she herself had been planning to take it from Fury, once he proved to be unable to control it. He also knew that. They had discussed that too at one point when they had seen that the humans had it. At that time they were just storing it, which was what the humans it had been entrusted to had promised to do. He knew she had plans to retrieve it if they made a mess with it.

She could feel Tony's worried gaze staring at her, and she had given him a miserable frown. He'd given her a nod in return. Tony would understand she was trying to work on getting her emotions under control.

Tony sat back and kept watching the pair sitting stiffly together, holding hands subtly. She had been ready to blast a hole in Thor's forehead for attacking him and Rogers. Finding out Loki was alive had obviously thrown her for a loop, one that even he was shaken by. He knew how much Kara had truly and deeply mourned for the Dark Prince. He'd heard plenty of stories about him from her; how intelligent he was, and how powerful he could be. Of all the warriors of Asgard, he was the only one she knew could beat her in a fight on Earth. Magic, charm, and wit were his favorite playbooks; not this half-baked plot. He was looking at him through his closed visor recording his expressions for later analysis. JARVIS was taking note of every expression and movement.

Tony was confused by Loki's actions so far. During the fight he could have slipped away, they'd been too distracted by Thor to stop him. He hadn't. Instead he had stayed, and watched them fight. He could have left when Kara had shown up. Instead he'd stayed and stopped Kara from likely killing Crown Prince Thunderbolt by speaking up when he had. From his interactions with Thor it was obvious he'd done so for Kara's sake, and not his brother's. Did he need her? Or did he care about her? Tony was hoping for the second, but planning with the first in mind. He'd been burned by a loved one before. He wouldn't wish that realization on anyone, especially Kara. She had enough tragedy in her past. She didn't need another reason to go stark raving mad, pun not intended.

Tony knew more about the Asgardian Royal Family than anyone on Earth, except maybe Darcy. Even Dr. Foster and Pepper didn't know as much as he did, even though the doc was dating the Brute Prince… kinda. It was a grey area as far as Tony was concerned. Could it be considered dating if they'd only had a few days together before they were separated by the broken space bridge? Tony mentally shrugged the idea away.

He unknowingly mentally agreed with Kara. Something was wrong with this picture. Either Loki wasn't who he said he was, which was unlikely… or something had happened since he went missing. Tony didn't like these kinds of mysteries. Not one little bit. So he stared at the Black Prince trying to capture something that would help explain everything later when he could review the images in a different frame of mind.

What 'Point Break' was thinking was easy to see. The man was an open book even a child could read. He seemed hurt that his not-so-dead brother was willing to let Blue sit with him, but not himself. Why, Tony couldn't figure out. The blonde mountain had come rushing in, and then threw 'tall dark and evil' out of a moving jet at over thirty thousand feet. Since they grew up together it's not like he didn't know Reindeer Games couldn't fly like he could. Why he was acting as if that should have endeared the pointed helmeted non-flyer to him? Did he miss the brother sized hole he'd made in the landscape where they landed? Tony hadn't, and Thor was lucky Kara had. Even he knew Kara considered Loki to be hers, the same way she claimed himself, Pepper, Darcy and Jane (to a lesser extent) as her people. She had no family so she claimed people. From the stories he knew she loved Loki more than any of them, though Tony was sure it was in part because she knew him first, otherwise Tony was sure she'd love him more. After all who wouldn't?

Tony hadn't bothered to go up front and see the red-headed assassin when they came aboard. Capsicle on the other hand was bouncing back and forth with a worried look. Tony inwardly sighed and walked over to the clearly agitated man as he came around the wall from the cockpit for the fifth time in a half hour. He popped his mask to talk to the man face-to-face. "What's got you hopping about?"

Cap looked at Tony and seemed to think for a few second before opening his mouth. "Fury said she was going to be the most powerful asset to the Avenger's Initiative." He admitted very softly, trying not to be overheard. Tony knew it was useless with Kara's hearing, but kept quiet waiting to see if Rogers was about to hang himself.

"Well... he's not wrong." Tony drawled quietly. "Of course she's not on the team any more than I am. She's not even considered a consultant because she refuses to sign on to SHIELD in anyway. She legally can't if you want to get technical about it." He shrugged as if the matter was a technicality, which in Tony's mind it was.

If the world was ever in danger; Kara would be there. If The Avengers were needed, the world would be in danger. In Tony's mind this meant Kara was an Avenger, even if it wasn't official to protect both herself and SHIELD from jerks like Ross.

Cap nodded slowly in agreement. From the paperwork he'd seen it seemed as if that was Kara's mandate. When it had painted her in a bad light, it was terrorists she had been linked to, never civilians. She tried to protect people. Steve looked back towards the cockpit. "Fury and Romanoff are worried she'll turn on this one." He looked embarrassed and concerned. "I'm hoping they're wrong." Tony's face hardened as Steve looked at him for answers. "You know her best, what do you think?"

Tony looked Cap dead in the eyes and his face morphed into a seriously angry scowl. Steve was taken aback. Everything he'd heard said Tony was never serious about anything. That he was a playboy, narcissistic bastard. Unless he was working with Supergirl, he wasn't a team player.

"I think Fury batter watch himself in how he treats her brother while he's a prisoner." Tony's voice had a very hard icy edge to it. His voice was cold enough that Steve shivered just slightly from the unexpectedness of hearing it. "There are few things that could go more wrong for him, and his little spy agency than to mistreat, not only a foreign prince of a powerful realm, more powerful than Earth, but someone she loves unconditionally." He warned the old soldier.

Steve's eyes moved downcast as he looked awkwardly at his feet. Suddenly he wasn't sure how to handle the situation. No one was acting as he'd expected. Howard's son was supposed to be a hothead who only cared about himself, and here he was being protective of Supergirl. She was supposed to be a superhero of the highest degree, but she was acting as if she was in love with the enemy. Natasha and Barton were supposed to be professional SHIELD agents, but Barton was MIA under the control of the bad guys, and Natasha was a little too cold for comfort. Dr. Banner had seemed nice, not at all a powder keg to be carefully handled. At this point Dr. Banner seemed the only one Steve could trust to be better than he'd assumed he'd be.

Tony held his stare as Cap's face fell. "She won't let us take him in, will she?" Even as strong as Steve was for a human, the ease in which she took care of Thor proved she was beyond his skills to stop if she put her mind to actually keeping them from Loki. If he was honest with himself Loki himself could have defeated Steve. He'd had him dead to rights in Stuttgart before Tony showed up. Now Steve was wondering if he'd surrendered when he'd seen Tony because he knew Supergirl would show up once Tony was involved.

Tony snorted with disgust. "I'll give you a pass on that because you likely have been fed horseshit about her and the rest of the team since Fury needs you to be on his side so bad." His gauntleted hand came up and grabbed Steve's bicep, and he stared at the contact but looked up at Tony, "But let me warn you now. While some of what SHIELD has told you about me might be true, they know only what she has told them about herself, and Asgard. If anywhere in that file it said she wouldn't do the right thing when it comes down to it, regardless of the rules, they were lying."

Cap looked down at Tony's hand again. It wasn't hurting him, but it easily could have had Tony wanted it to. "But that's just it." He hissed as he yanked his arm out of Tony's grasp. "The right thing to one person isn't always the right thing for everyone else."

Tony's mouth tightened into a thin white line, and he glared even more hotly than before. "She never joined me when I went after the Ten Rings." His eyes were boring a hole in Steve's confidence, not that he let Tony see it. "I know the reports said she did, but she didn't. She followed after me to make sure the civilians that the bastards liked to hide behind were safe. That's all she did. Never once did she help me take on the bastards, or take out a single bad guy that wasn't threatening a civilian directly. One! One guy died because of her directly, and that was his own fault for taking a shot at her and it ricocheted off her jaw and killed him. The only other time anyone died it was because a fuel tanker rammed into her when she braced herself. If she hadn't it would have hit a bus full of refuges. Those deaths are suicide in my books, not a kill by her hand. By her code of honor, they were rightful kills, since they were trying to kill civilians. That's something you used to agree with, at least from what I heard growing up." Tony sneered at the man. God's he hated the image of Capsicle that his dad had forced down his throat almost as much as he hated his old man.

Steve looked down again. The reports had said she had participated against the Ten Rings, and had a higher kill count than just the one guy Tony was saying. If what Tony was telling him was true than SHIELD had lied, or at best, misunderstood what had happened after the fact. Tony's statement also countered the account of her being armed with a gun. She used her daggers often when doing her rescues he knew, but none of the Terrorists had been sliced up by them according to the after action reports. Just some gun fire that hadn't been accounted for by Tony's technology, so they had been accounted for by assigning the kills to Supergirl with standard everyday .32 caliber bullets. Now that he looked at her closely he didn't see any holsters, or any indication that she could use guns with the gauntlets she had covering her hands.

"In almost every situation I've ever seen her respond to, innocents are her first priority." Tony stood straighter and let his face relax back into his mask of indifference. "Only when the bad guys need to be taken down before the civilians can be saved has she blasted them away first, usually without doing more harm than good, unlike me. When it came to the Ten Rings... I shot to kill." He stared Steve down until Steve nodded slowly. "She stood firm and protected people. Still think she's the problem?"

Steve looked over at Kara who still had her eyes closed but her head was turned towards them now, her hand still in Loki's. It was Loki's expression that made Steve suck in a breath, nearly choking on it. His eyes were angry and deep glaring blue. The intensity of the stare was creepy and made the God of Mischief looked crazed in a way he hadn't earlier on the ground. His eyes were locked on Steve and the look of contempt was hard not to react to. Steve swallowed it down like a good soldier, and tore his eyes back to Tony.

"So we what… treat him with kid gloves because she might object?" Steve inquired as he tossed his chin in their direction.

"No," The retort came from an unexpected source. Kara's eyes were now wide open and she was looking at Steve with a disappointed and resigned look. "You treat him lawfully, as any other prisoner under the Geneva Convention. I will not interfere with that. As long as Loki is treated fairly, and is given the same rights as any other prisoner then I will not take him from SHIELD. And as long as Asgard does not require extradition for fair trial." Steve's face hardened as he realized she had heard his every word, and from the looks of Thor and Loki, so had they. "I am required by Asgardian Law, which I have to uphold above the laws of Midgard, to produce any Asgardian citizen for trial if Asgard asks it of me."

Thor looked confused and slightly riled, but he was holding his tongue for once. He'd heard both Tony and Steve's words but hadn't understood why Kara was not defending herself. Nor could he understand why it had been important that Kara had not engaged the enemy of her ally directly. He however had no intention of starting another fight with Kara while locked in the small plane with these breakable humans. He might not understand what was happening, but Kara did. As long as she was handling the situation to her satisfaction, he would hold his tongue.

Loki snorted at her statement, Kara ignored him. They both knew a fair trial was not what Odin would have in mind after this. Loki was watching Steve with that same intense look but his eyes would flick to the box that held the scepter every so often like a tick. Tony moved to block his view of it while everyone else shifted their eyes to Steve.

"I'm sorry if I offended you ma'am," He acknowledged his slight with a military nod of respect. Kara's eyes widened slightly in surprise but she nodded back politely. That she hadn't expected. Steve wasn't wrong to question her, SHIELD barely had anything on her, and the past year hadn't been her best.

"I understand your concern Captain Rogers." She replied formally with a nod of acknowledgement and a nudge to Loki's side with her elbow to get him to stop glaring at the soldier. Loki's gaze flickered to her and he sat back as if resting once more. "Were the situation reversed I would have sought the opinion of one who knew you best also." She continued as if the byplay had not occurred.

Steve knew a dismissal when he heard it and took himself back to the cockpit. As he took his seat Romanoff looked over at him. "That could have gone better." She said with calm indifference, her eyes the only sign that betrayed her anger.

Steve sighed and looked out the windshield even more confused than before. "I didn't know she could hear me. I just wanted some idea of how bad this could go. Stark seemed like the best source of information we had onboard."

Romanoff nodded knowingly. "Now we do."

"Do we?" He looked over at her sharply. "I have no idea what SHIELD is going to do, but Fury doesn't operate within the laws of most countries, or International laws if it doesn't suit him." That much he had gleaned from the reports he'd read.

SHIELD rarely even told the governments of the countries they were operating in that they were even there, or completing military operations within their borders. Black ops or everyday operations made no difference to Fury. As far as Steve had been able to ascertain SHIELD acted as if they didn't exist in the real world. Even the CIA, INTERPOL and other national spy agencies had a headquarters and public persona. SHIELD was huge and yet didn't have a public profile, or at least people didn't know there was a huge umbrella that was SHIELD. Certain parts of the agency were public, or at least semi-public, but nothing that pointed to the huge organization.

Romanoff spared him a look to roll her eyes. "Fury is going to do what he thinks is best for the world at large, not individuals." Her lack of concern about Fury's actions also worried the soldier.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Steve sighed. Romanoff managed to not betray any discomfort at his statement. "I've read the Geneva Convention. I know how it works, and you can bet she does too. If Fury oversteps, she is going to stop him from doing what he thinks is right. That's not a fight we can win, or even should be picking right now."

Romanoff kept her own council but she agreed with him. Fury would need to watch his step. While Steve was distracted by his thoughts she pulled up the recording of his conversation with Tony and Kara, she sent it to Fury and Hill. They needed to be prepared for the volatile group she was bringing in. She'd never get a chance to save Clint if the infighting got out of hand. That was all that mattered to Nat. Getting Clint back to his family. Her oath to Laura trumped any to anyone else in her books. And not alien 'Supergirl' was going to stop her from keeping her promise.

When they had arrived onboard the flying fortress, Kara had insisted that she walk with Loki to the cell they had prepared for him. She wasn't impressed. They had no magical restraints, (not that she thought there would be) nor was the cage secured enough to actually be of use. If the thing dropped as Fury had threatened it would, Loki could easily escape it before it crashed. He could teleport, at least when he had seiðr.

"You will not leave the cage until directed to do so by any of the Avengers, or myself while this cell is still aboard this vessel. Nor will you do anything to make the cell drop while you are inside it. Do we have an accord?" She asked him formally in Allspeak before he entered the clear circular cell. There was no way she would require him to stay in it if Fury dropped it for any reason.

He had smirked at her in a way that made her think he was being careful with his words once more. "We have an accord, only an Avenger, or you, can request me to vacate the cage while it is aboard this vessel."

She had hesitated. She slowly backed away from the door before she looked away and sadly left the room trying hard not to look back. She half turned her head before she managed to stop herself and marched quickly out the door, leaving Fury behind to speak to Loki before he joined them.

She was quietly escorted to a conference room by Agent Coulson to where the other 'Avengers' were waiting. Kara sat down at the table across from Captain Rogers while Thor and the others stood. Fury walked in several minutes later. He seemed well named as his temper was barely contained, if the throbbing veins on the side of his head were any indication. Fury ignored most of the others and sat down across from her, sitting beside a bored looking Rogers.

"We took you at your word that Loki was not a threat, and he was not trying to kill innocent people nearly two years ago." He glared at her with his one eye gleaming with tightly controlled rage.

Kara acknowledged his rightful anger with a nod of her own. "And at the time I was correct." She reminded him, outwardly calm and controlled. "Loki was trying to arrest the fugitives who decided to attack rather than surrender, and he trusted me to get your men out of the way. I did. Even then the destruction was not caused only the Destroyer's actions, but also that of the fugitives, and was limited to the immediate area, not the nearby town, or SHIELD's mobile base." She raised a brow daring him to argue the point. Fury didn't. He knew the small area of desert had been the best possible location for the little dust up. He also couldn't legitimately argue with the reason for the altercation.

"My friends were not-" Thor began to protest but Kara turned her eyes as she brought the red power of her heat vision up. Thor quickly cut off what he was going to say realizing that trying to defend their actions was a waste of time with his sister. Even after a year he knew they were in the wrong, but the urge to protect them was strong, and engrained after centuries of friendship.

"Your friends for the second time in less than a week decided to commit treason against their rightful King, because of YOU!" She snarled back at him, "Because you are too much of a child to behave as a Prince should, and too stupid to understand the word diplomacy! I see nothing has changed." She snarled with rage. Thor looked down in anger. He knew she was correct. He also knew she was holding her temper by a thread, and he had no intention of snapping it and getting himself killed.

His friends had been severely disciplined once the ramifications of what had happened became known, especially since their mother heard directly from Kara's letter what had happened on Midgard. Kara's written declaration after Loki's funeral that she placed the blame for Loki's death on his friends, and himself, still stung as much as her last words to him on the broken bridge. His pride had led to a fight that resulted in Loki letting go, and trying to commit suicide rather than come home. His actions and words had made Loki feel cornered and alone. In light of learning about Loki's state of mind after learning his heritage, Thor had been even more ashamed by his actions. Even more so that he'd allowed the words of his friends to change his opinion more than they should have. After hearing from Kara what was happening on Asgard during his absence, he should have at least asked Loki what was going on, instead of jumping to conclusions.

His friends were found guilty of committing treason and had been removed from the roles of elite warriors. They were now forced to the role of lower ranked Einherjar, guarding the Vault and corridor as those were Loki's last orders to them. Only the extreme warrior skills they possessed had saved them from being banished. Odin had feared they would join the bands of bandits that had begun to amass at Asgard's outer borderlands. It was still considered an honor to be among the Einherjar, but for elites to be taking orders from warriors they themselves could defeat in battle, it was a disgrace. So much so that Hogun had taken a leave to return to Vanir, rather than stay in the City of Asagarth as a simple royal guard.

They would stay in those roles until the Queen, or Kara, allowed them to return or retire. Not a moment before. Neither the Queen nor Kara (as she wasn't even aware of the punishment his friends were undertaking at the moment), were likely to allow that to change. Still they were lucky to avoid the cells or execution considering the ire of the Queen and Princess. Volstagg was the only one the Queen showed any signs of softening on, but she was awaiting Kara's word before allowing Volstagg to be pardoned completely.

Heimdall had been luckiest of the lot. He actually hadn't allowed them to use the Bifröst, officially at least. They had waited until after he had left for his evening meal to use the device. He had been reprimanded for leaving his sword in the Observatory, and now had to have a second guard stand with him during his duties. The Queen had been somewhat vindictive in choosing Skurge to be that second. He was lazy and annoying, but at least he was loyal to Asgard.

Kara had not communicated with anyone on Asgard since she had left. Heimdall had reported that despite receiving the letters Mother had sent to SHIELD and later to her directly, Kara had still not opened any of them. It was one of the reasons Thor had been dispatched. He was not to just bring Loki and the Tesseract home, but Kara and the Destroyer as well. His mother wanted to speak directly to her and tell her of Loki's adoption and his friend's punishments. She had expressed her own hope that Kara could help bring Loki around to understanding that he was loved, and was considered family now as much as ever, just as she was. Thor had been torn. He wanted his brother back, but Father had made it plain that Loki was attacking Midgard. Loki's last threat to visit Jane had Thor worried what Loki planned for the little scientist he was very fond of.

Kara took a deep breath and the red receded but did not completely disappear from her eyes, reminding Thor further of Loki's true parentage, even though Kara herself was still unaware of it. Even without that knowledge she understood their brother better than he could. It was a fact that riled him. He, who had known Loki for one thousand and forty-nine years, did not know his brother as well as a girl who had known him for a single decade.

"I do know the meaning of the word." He muttered huffily. Diplomacy might be one he didn't practice as often as he should of in the past, but he did know it, he thought petulantly.

"And yet you think smashing everything with your hammer will solve all your problems." She snorted contemptuously her arms crossed defiantly across her chest. Everyone else watched the confrontation silently. It was like watching two giants roar at each other. If they went for each other's throats, no one wanted to be in the line of fire. The others watched the siblings argue with mixed reactions. Dr. Banner was almost standing in the hallway, anxious to be away if a fight actually started. Tony looked as if he wanted popcorn. The rest looked on edge, but not half as concerned as Banner.

Thor shoulders slumped in defeat at her words. He could not even think of how many times, Odin, Loki, their mother, Kara, and even his friends had all said something similar when he had made a mess of negotiations of some sort.

Kara turned her full attention back to Fury. From the report she had given Coulson back in New Mexico nearly a year ago, SHIELD had a very basic idea of what life on Asgard was like, before Thor's banishment. The reports from the past few days were not living up to the intelligence she had given them back then. Loki's actions were a complete one hundred and eighty degrees from his normal activities and strategies. Coulson had even pointed out in his own report that Loki was in fact performing in a manner that was rather uncharacteristic of the profile they had managed to put together from not just Supergirl; but from Selvig, Foster, and Lewis's interviews, and overheard conversations from these people when discussing Loki. Most had been from bugs on the apartments of Foster and Lewis when she's come home with stories about Loki that she'd heard from Zor El and relayed to the scientist.

While not in the reports Coulson, was beginning to think Kara Stark was in contact with Supergirl more than even Tony himself was. He wished she was willing to meet with him, but so far she was as elusive as Supergirl used to be, and he was sure Supergirl was helping her to slip-away. No human could be that completely off SHIELD's radar without Zor El's help. A year ago, he thought even though the body mass and builds were different, he'd have sworn that Kara Stark and Supergirl was the same person.

Now he was convinced that not only was Supergirl not Kara Stark; but she was keeping the Stark girl away from SHIELD, helping Tony, Pepper and JARVIS to do the same thing. The only reason he believed it was because he believed she was in fact Tony's daughter. Events surrounding the mysterious portal that opened in Kansas convinced him that Kara Stark was way more than Tony's assist with the same last name. Pepper Potts had pulled out some huge guns to defend the girl from SHIELD's attempts to interview her yet again. He hadn't even been able to get a bug into her lab when he had been inside the mansion that day. Despite her close association with Tony, SHIELD still had not had an interview with the elusive young prodigy. It was something that also worried Fury. The girl could influence Tony. Any influences on a perspective Avenger had needed to be vetted, but the Stark girl had managed to avoid every trap, unexpected visit, or operation designed to run into her. Coulson had backed off once the thought had occurred to him, but he kept a close eye on her when she did appear in public. If anyone had influence on Tony, it had been Supergirl. She had tempered him from a hothead hero wannabe, to a creditable Avenger candidate. He had some discipline now where he had none before. He was a possible team player, as long as he respected the people he worked with. These were traits he didn't have when he had defeated Obadiah Stane in LA.

Kara looked at Fury straight in the eye. "This state of affairs, it's not something Loki would design to do. It's too brash and prone to failure." She waited for Fury to react in some way. She was surprised to hear Romanoff speak up.

"He's killed eighty people in two days, took several people hostage, including your friend Selvig and one of ours. This is not a state of affairs, it's an invasion." She very calmly pointed out, but there was a hint of cold anger in her voice.

Kara raised her brow at Fury. She was sure Loki had managed to kill people. It would be difficult for him to not have, given his actions to date. As a warrior he would not hold back when threatened. Loki was not a mass-murdering type, and Widow's report didn't include the details required to judge if the report was warranted as an over-reaction or not. When one kill would get the job done, Loki killed one person. Killing eighty people was extreme overkill, and in her mind proved her suspicion that something was wrong; either with Loki, or SHIELD, or possibly both. Before she could really make a comment Thor spoke up.

"He's adopted." He spoke up in an embarrassed and hesitant voice. His interjection smacked of an attempt to distance himself from Loki's actions. It wasn't unusual for Thor to do so. It also managed to push Kara over the edge.

Kara moved so fast that no one saw her move. One second she was sitting in the chair and the next she had Thor by the throat against the wall near the ceiling with his feet kicking out trying to find anything but air to stand on.

"How dare you deny him!" She jeered dangerously. "How dare _you_ , the warmongering fool who restarted a war by breaking a thousand year old treaty over an insult. _You_ , who killed over _two hundred_ of their people, over a few petty words. How dare _you_ deny _him_ now, when this petty warlord's underling accuses him _unjustly_!" She hissed bitterly as she bashed the back of his head against the wall with each emphasized word.

Thor's face was quickly turning red from a lack of oxygen as he clawed at her fingers. He raised his hand with his hammer as if to strike her, but Kara quickly wrapped her hand around the haft and held it firmly in place. Despite being opposed to Thor the Hammer still found her worthy and refused to choose between them.

"Princess Zor El, Loki personally has only been linked to the death of the Agents in the Tesseract Room, seven people." Coulson spoke up quickly understanding the true depths of her anger, and feelings of loyalty to Loki. They needed to defuse her temper, not provoke it as Romanoff had done. He gave the red-headed assassin a glare to tell her to back off. She gave him one firm nod and sat back, careful to keep her body language vague. She still answered to Coulson so she backed off for now.

"Yet eighty are laid at his feet." She snarled without taking her eyes from Thor's face as it turned a slight blue color.

"He broke into a base through a wormhole, and attacked our people with a staff that controls the minds of others. Between the protocols in place, and the deaths by the newly controlled agents; eighty have died." He explained calmly, though his tone was pleading for understanding. "Not by Loki's hand, but his actions in shooting first when asked to lower his weapon had a hand in their deaths. That is all the report of eighty dead means. Seven by his hand, and the rest by the end of the incident."

Kara gave Thor one last glare and dropped him and the hammer. He began gulping air loudly as he fell onto the floor, barely managing to keep his feet by staggering and leaning against the wall. He'd forgotten on Midgard that Kara was stronger than him, and judging by her grip he'd say she was stronger still than the last time he encountered her.

Fury was glaring at Coulson as he just shrugged. "It's not like she can't access our files and see the footage at any time." He reminded the Director. Fury was taking the wrong tact with Supergirl. Coulson knew her better and had no intention of losing her regard, or trust. Fury was like a bull in a china shop, smashing all his leverage with the superheroes, because even he could tell he was losing Stark and Captain Rogers with his bloated accusations. It was a dangerous thing to do with; a woman who was now a super-powered goddess, the richest billionaire on the planet, and the only Super Soldier ever created, and they were beginning to side with her. They weren't even sure what she was the goddess of!

Kara sank to the floor and stood nearly nose-to-nose with Fury. "Have a care Director. I know Loki has his faults and his sins, but do not pad them with your own. He will pay for his crimes, not yours."

"Understood Zor El, now back off." He ordered her. Kara slowly backed up and stood near Stark. She took comfort in his non-aggressive stance. His hip bump cheered her a bit as he stared at the rest of the room with his arms crossed.

"What did happen?" Rogers asked the group trying to get a grip on the situation. "How did he get here, and why would he take our people?"

"We were experimenting with the Tesseract." Coulson admitted with a quick flicker of his eyes towards Supergirl. He couldn't help but wonder what she thought of that.

"You have used the Tesseract?" Thor's astonishment grabbed everyone's attention. "It was lost over a thousand years during the war against the Jötunn."

"It wasn't lost, it was left in hiding. In a temple to Odin in fact." Kara reminded him with a harsh glare. Thor looked surprised at being corrected by Kara, and more than a little embarrassed by her rough, and scornful correction. "They've been playing with it for nearly a century on and off." Kara informed him without taking her eyes from Fury, her contempt for that action also very evident to the room. "SHIELD has been using it for the last two and a half years. I have been watching. They haven't accessed even a fraction of its power yet and so I had not felt the need to interfere before now."

Thor looked over at the director who was also locked in the staring match with Kara. He was unused to not being the center of attention, or being considered the most dangerous person in the room. He didn't like the feeling of being in her shadow, but she understood more of what was happening here. If he was to return to Asgard with her, Loki, and the infinity stone, he'd need to regain some of her trust. It would be difficult since he had never earned it in all the years he'd known her to begin with. Mother had been right, this was a near impossible thing to do as long as she was willing to side with anyone but him.

"That is not advisable." Thor stated plainly to the director. "Playing with those types of forces would bring others here. Others who would think Asgard no longer protects you. They would kill or enslave you all."

"It's kinda hard to miss Blue here when she's flying all over the place, declaring herself 'Zor El of Asgard'." Tony smirked at the big guy as he gestured towards Supergirl with his bag of blueberries he'd pulled from his jacket pocket. "In her flashy blue and red armor she's very visible, even from Space, when she stays still." He winked at his blonde partner. She chuckled and smirked. Her ability to stay off satellite tracking by moving so fast annoyed SHIELD, so she enjoyed the subtle dig at Fury.

Thor nodded thoughtfully and gave Kara a nod of recognition between warriors that Kara ignored. He was a little put off by the nickname also. He did remember not to use the name Kara when addressing her. Tony's use of the name Zor El had reminded him of that.

"Still it brought Loki here, others will likely follow now." He told him but he kept watching Kara. "My sister is known to be of Asgard, and a princess of honor. She is only one being, and as such might not be as much a deterrent as you hope against entire races bend on conquering you as they have in the past, before Asgard became Midgard's protector."

"I'm more interested on how we get our people back." Fury cut in while basically demanding Supergirl answer him by directing all his ire at her. He didn't miss the reference to Earth having already been conquered at some point in the past. He knew that already, even if it wasn't in the files. He also had past experience with Aliens hell bent on conquering Earth, and Asgard hadn't lifted a finger then either.

"Who does he have that is one of ours?" Steve asked out loud to the room, but directed his question to Widow.

She glared at the Captain. "They have Agent Barton and Selvig."

"He took Hawk and Eric!" Kara gasped as she broke the staring match with Fury to look over at Widow.

"Yes, they left the base with your brother, and in Germany Hawkeye was seen leaving the building by another method while Loki walked out the front door." She verified, not at all surprised at Kara's distraction at the identity of Loki's captives. Barton had spoken highly of the girl, but Natasha had never met her before. Selvig had taken Stark's money and left after helping Supergirl with Thor, so she was aware they had been acquainted.

Kara exhaled forcefully and closed her eyes. "That sounds more like Loki's style," She admitted softly, "distraction and illusions to center attention elsewhere, while others escape to continue their plans." She looked a little concerned as she looked over at Tony beside her. "He doesn't usually offer himself as the bait."

"Loki always was a master at deception." Thor agreed carefully from his spot across the room. His concern was increased by knowing Jane's friend Selvig was taken. "His usual tactics do tend to allow for his escape, and not only his allies."

"Look, I don't care if he is acting normal or not." Fury finally snapped at them. He was tired of hearing how the alien who had stolen the Tesseract and his best agent wasn't acting like himself. "I don't like that Asgard likes to dump their problem children on Earth expecting us to take care of them." Fury glared at Kara. "I don't have time to coddle Alien Princes and Princesses with 'Daddy Issues'. Those should have been dealt with centuries ago on your own damn planet. Earth has its own problems. It doesn't need Asgard's issued being dumped here."

Kara gave him a confused look. "Why would they be dealt with centuries ago? Loki is a teenager by your modern definition. Is this not the time frame your psychological experts agree is the best time for these issues to be dealt with?" Everyone but Thor froze and stared at her in a mixture of surprise and horror.

"What is a teenager?" Thor asked her in confusion. It was a word that was not being translated into a word Asgard used.

"They are older children who are not of age, or apprentices under the care of a master." She quickly defined, not only for Thor but so the rest would understand her. "On Midgard that is the ages between puberty and adulthood; twelve to eighteen usually for humans, but it could be twenty-one in some areas or cultures." She turned to Coulson to further her explanation. "On Asgardians those ages would be equal to approximately seven hundred and fifty, to thirteen hundred." She answered both for Thor's benefit and the Midgardians.

"And Loki is?" Tony asked the obvious question. He knew it was close to Kara's estimated Asgardian age, but he was older than her, so he was unsure of the actual age. He only knew Loki's birthday was determined to be December 17th because Kara had held a special memorial for him on that day last year.

"He was born in the winter one thousand and forty nine of your years ago." Thor answered, deeply in thought. "But he has been of age for over two centuries and doing his duties for longer." He responded to Kara. "He has mastered both his weapons, and his seiðr training, marking him an adult."

Kara shook her head. "Not here. Midgardians go by the physical development of the body, and mind. Their brains do not finish development until their twentieth year. By their standards anyone under the age of twelve hundred and fifty is still not of an age to being able to rule, or even join the Army. Asgardian development is similar in physiology, it is only the culture milestones that are different."

"Wait one god damn motherfucking second!" Fury sputtered, his skin was dark enough that it normally was hard to see when his cheeks were flushed with rage. That was not the case now. Not only was his temper evident from his pulsing veins and eyes bulging out, but his cheeks were flushed enough that the color darken slightly and his lips trembled with the force of his indignation. "Are you telling me Loki is the equivalent of a sixteen or seventeen year old KID?"

"With some serious 'daddy issues'," Tony quipped, remembering Kara's stories about Loki being passed over for Thor almost every time. Kara nodded and rolled her eyes at Tony's assessment. If anyone would know 'daddy issues' when they saw them it would be Tony. Tony and Loki could start a snark-fest club that revolved around 'daddy issues' and never run out of things to say to each other, or stories to tell of their failed father figures.

"I'm sixteen, developmentally." She reminded Fury calmly. She was making an effort not to show her glee at pushing Fury off his game. "Loki would be early to mid-seventeen."

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at her a moment. Supergirl had been around for four years on Midgard, two before coming out and two since, plus eight before that on Asgard, the idea she was only sixteen was surprising to all of them. Thor was the one to break the silence. "I thought you older." His face scrunched in thought and confusion. "Father sent you to Midgard because you had reach adulthood. Mother stated you were seventeen out of stasis at that time."

Kara glared at Thor. She coldly told him in Old Norse, "Talking about sexual maturity is mildly taboo here on Midgard. Don't discuss it openly." She wasn't about to tell him on Midgard some females started menstruating normally before the age of twelve which was the mark of a female reaching adulthood on Asgard. Asgardian females started after their second millennia so as to not waste the rare, and few fertile years with under developed bodies. Thor was working with the cultural norm that once a woman was sexually mature, she was then declared an adult. Males were considered an adult once they completed their first solo and skillful kill as a town protector, became a soldier, or had passed from apprentice to journeyman in a profession.

"I regenerated some of my age once I arrived on Midgard and establish myself here. I stopped aging as a mortal," She said openly to the rest of them, "Which you were aware of." She reminded Thor sternly.

The Kryptonian computer placed her regeneration and regression at about six to eight months, but she hadn't started to age in any measurable way since her arrival, and the incident last year only exasperated the problem. The aging was only enough to be able to tell it was a quite a bit slower than an Asgardian, or any other race in the Nine Realms. Brainiac's summation was the yellow sun must be stronger on this Earth than the one on the Earth she was supposed to go to. She was also still gaining strength in her powers as she continued to absorb more of Earth's sunlight.

Thor looked astonished. "You are still younger than Loki in this developmental range then?" Like normal Thor didn't shift languages and continued in Allspeak, but thankfully didn't embarrass her by his words this time.

Kara nodded slowly. "And the gap is growing every year as I age slower than he does, though we don't believe it is by much."

"So you are truly immortal and not just gaining goddess status!" He exclaimed joyfully. "You will be able to come home whenever you wish now Sister! I had thought it had disappeared with the godhood when I regained my powers."

"Wait! Are you saying Blue was banished here four years ago?" Tony cut in, his tone slightly protective as he angled himself to stand slightly in front of her.

Kara shrugged not concerned by the situation. It was what it was. "Sort of, but it wasn't called banishment. I was allowed visitors and visitation anytime I wished." she flicked her eyes to her feet to avoid Tony's pitying stare. "I was an outcast and believed to be a mortal. Since mortals don't live long the Council didn't really want me around, and Odin isn't fond of mortals either. So while I am allowed back to visit mother, I was not welcomed to live in Asgard itself. At least until it was discovered that I am actually able to live as long as them. Now I am welcome back at any time if I wished. Mother informed me when we first realized I wasn't aging."

Thor shook his head always ready to argue his point. "That was not the reason for your post here." He claimed with confidence. "With your expected shorter lifespan it was the thought by the Allfather that you would be the best to understand them, and would be more comfortable living among them as it was your parent's intent for you reach Midgard."

"That and the hope I would complete whatever it is that I'm here to do, as soon as possible. After all; out of sight, out of mind, and hopefully Mother wouldn't become too attached before I die." She laughed humorlessly at the looks of horror on Steve, Bruce, Coulson and Tony's faces. The others had either passive or slightly disbelieving expressions. "After all there is always a reason for the things he does." She sneered at Thor as she quoted their mother. She hated the way Mother and Thor always believed in Odin, never questioning his actions. She'd also had time to become bitter this past year.

Odin had the ability all along to make her a goddess. He'd chosen not to even try. Her mother had tried to tell her it was because she would have demanded he try and never forgive him if he failed, but Kara didn't believe that. She knew it was because Odin believed any who were not already of Asgard didn't deserve the 'immortality' of Godhood.

"Enough!" Yelled Fury, "Petty, squabbling children! That is what this whole thing is about? Loki is here to conquer Earth because he is having a… a temper tantrum?"

Tony began to laugh. "And I thought I had 'Daddy Issues'!" He pointed at Fury. "You just got the granddaddy of all 'Daddy-Issues' dropped in your lap." He looked at both Kara and Thor. Taking in everything that had been said, both today and before in Kara's stories from, Asgard, and he laughed harder, "All three of them!" He chuckled darkly. _Serves the one-eyed asshole right_ , Tony thought with sadistic glee as Fury's glower darkened a shade more.

"Well at least he looks the part," Kara snarked back at Tony, unknowingly echoing his thoughts. Tony cackled a little louder, he was proud of her sassy attitude.

Thor couldn't help the snort that escaped his lips. "Aye, the patch and glare does make for a striking resemblance." Even Kara cracked a smirk at Thor's comments. Fury's forehead was throbbing dangerously. Coulson was watching Fury carefully, but with his bland look. Romanoff was the one that was interesting to see. Her body language gave off the impression she was bored, but her pulse was telling Kara she was under high-stress and ready to snap.

Fury was not amused. He slammed his hand down on the table making everyone, even Banner who was as removed as he could be and still be a part of the discussion, jump, "Enough with the god-damn jokes!" He barked menacingly. "We need to find the super-powered space cube and get it back from the brainwashed drones Loki took with his scepter! I don't have time for childish jokes!"

"We also know he has an army of creatures known as the Chitauri." Thor told them, making everyone turn and stare unbelieving at the massive Prince.

Kara whipped around at glowered at him. "WE know WHAT?" Her voice filled with rage that made the Helicarrier shudder at the decibels she used to scream at Thor. "You are just telling us about them now!"

Thor looked sheepish. "I had meant to warn the humans and you earlier, but other matters took precedence."

"Who is we?" Fury demanded barely holding his tone to non-screaming decibels himself.

"The Allfather and Heimdall had seen them making their way out of unknown space." Thor admitted quietly. "They are a long way off, which was why I was sent to retrieve the Tesseract and Loki, so this army could not come here. With the Tesseract gone there would be no need to come to Midgard and bypass the rest of the Nine who could defend themselves from such an invasion force."

"He's going to need the Tesseract to build another portal." Banner hesitantly spoke up, throwing in his expert opinion. "That's why he needed Selvig." Bruce look uncomfortable as everyone turned their full attention towards him and couldn't finish his thought.

"Because he's an astrophysicist," Tony chimed in agreeing with the other PhD in the room, finishing what Banner had started to say. "Guess it's a good thing Blondie's girlfriend said no to signing on to SHIELD, isn't it Agent." Tony turned to smile widely at Coulson. The Agent in question nodded quietly, inwardly thanking which ever god was listening that Jane had said no. Otherwise Thor would likely be as volatile as Supergirl at present and that would be a disaster for the Universe. Over the past year Zor El had calmed as her grief was dealt with, but right now she was all over the place. It was understandable, but more volatile than they needed.

"My question is," Banner continued before Tony could get them off-topic again, "what did they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony told him off-handedly as he finally turned to fully face the Doctor who seemed unable to leave the doorway. "They need it to stop the portal from collapsing on itself as it did at SHIELD." He turned to Fury, "Not nice blaming baby bro for that by the way. That was all on you guys. After the initial collapse you should have made a run for it instead of waiting for the left over energy to explode." He turned back to Banner. "That means the portal can stay open as wide and as long as he needs it to be, to bring this army of CheeChee's here."

"That makes a lot of sense." Banner muttered as he turned the problem over in his mind while ignoring Tony's butchering of the alien race's name.

"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get a hold of rather easily. So they would just need to be somewhere they could manufacture the parts they need, which could be anywhere really. I could do it in my new Tower really." Tony offered Banner some of his blueberries before he started walking around the table. He looked very bored as everyone else stared at him with differing levels of understanding. He continued to lecture the others, "Only major component that might be difficult is a power source. Something of high energy density…"

"Because it has to be able to kick-start the cube to reproduction level power." Kara moaned as she sat heavily into a chair and began banging her head off the table dramatically. She hadn't known what Loki had been doing when he was arrested. Now it was beginning to take shape in her mind. No wonder he'd given himself up. He knew they couldn't stop what was coming. Even if Loki wasn't at the head of the Army, it would already have a general in Barton, or more likely, a commander from Unknown Space coming with his troops.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked of Tony, as she walked up from behind Banner and entered the room.

"Last night." Tony answered back. Everyone else turned at looked lost, or bewildered by Tony's off-handed comment. For some it was the fact that he'd learned a new field of science in one night, for others it was that they had either ignored, or not been aware that there was something they needed to know. "The packet… Selvig's notes…" Everyone stared at him blankly, "The Extraction Theory papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?" He teased the room, sounding as pissy as a sixteen year old debutant not getting her way.

Kara lifted her hand with a peeved look. "In my own defense, I wasn't read in at all, or giving the reading material."

Tony looked over at the frustrated 'Girl of Steel' and gave her a nod, and a playful, yet patronizing pat on the head. "You're excused, but the rest of you… Tsk. Shame on you all, skipping your homework, what kind of examples are you to this young girl?" He asked of them pointing to an unimpressed Kara.

Steve looked annoyed as hell with everything that was going on around him. "Does the power source need to be anything special?" His fed up attitude told Tony he needed to curb the sass a bit.

Banner spoke up first trying to dumb down the science so they could understand what was being said, "To… kick-start the cube," He stammered while he stole a quick looked at Kara as he spoke the words she had used, "he would have to heat it to one hundred million Kelvin just to break through the coulomb barrier."

"Unless Selvig has managed to find a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Stark replied with a smug tone.

"If he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Banner volleyed back.

"Finally, someone who speaks English!" Tony replied with a wide grin.

"Hey, I speak English too." Kara snapped peevishly.

"Yes, but as we already established you didn't do the reading, and were excused from the conversation." Tony replied teasingly pompous.

"Whatever dad," Kara grumbled as she put her head down.

Tony walked over and shook Banner's hand. "Good to meet you Dr. Banner, I loved your work on anti-electron collision was unparalleled."

Kara's head snapped up. "You're that Dr. Banner! You're the Dr. Bruce Banner; the multi-doctorate, physicist, biochemist, and medical MD, from Culver University!" She hadn't been introduced to the doctor yet. In fact no one had mentioned his name to her.

Bruce looked from Tony who was in his personal space to the excited look on Kara's face. "Yes…" He said hesitantly.

"I love your work." Kara gushed excitedly. "I actually wrote a paper based on your electron collision paper for my masters final." She came over and offered her hand to him. "I am so sorry, I wasn't paying too much attention to Tony. I'd have caught on sooner if I bothered to listen to him in any real way." Banner slowly took her hand and gave her an unsure, uneasy grin. Tony looked a little put out by her comment.

"Nice to meet you too," He stammered a little as he met her very firm handshake with his own careful one. He was staggered as he could only think about her comment. He had looked at some information on Supergirl when she had first come on the scene, but he hadn't known she had gone to a human university.

"Yes and I am a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into a huge green rage monster." Tony agreed with a sarcastic but charming smile. He had also caught Kara's slip about her schooling, and was trying to deflect attention from it.

"By Rao, Tony I can't take you anywhere." Kara snapped and pushed him out of the way. "Don't let him fool you," She told Banner with a huge smile. "He was actually very impressed with your work too."

Banner wasn't sure what to say so he just laughed uneasily. Kara pushed Tony backwards a few steps. "Personal space Tony, learn it, use it." Everyone else seemed to ease up with her display, except Fury.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." Fury reminded the group. He seemed less on edge now that the team was actually getting up to speed on the topic that really mattered. "I was hoping you could help him." He said to Tony. "I suppose you could help." He added to Kara. With that Tony and Kara walked out of the room. Kara reached out and snagged Banner's jacket with her hand dragging him along.

"You ok Doc?" Kara chuckled with excitement. She would actually get to talk with one of her idols here on Midgard for the first time. "We won't get far without the Gamma Radiation expert."

Banner doubted that. Between Tony and Kara he was sure they could figure it all out, it just might take them extra time that Earth just might not have. He also had a head start on his search already so he led them to the lab he had been using to search for the Cube.


	3. Does Supergirl ever do that?

SoA – Part 3 –

Chapter 3 - Does Supergirl ever do that?

Fury just stared after the group of most dangerous people on the planet as they walked away together. Tony, Supergirl and Bruce Banner seemed to be hitting to off well together. For a moment Fury was torn between looking happy they were getting along, and pissed off that they were bonding together. He turned dramatically and left with Hill directly on his heels.

After they left Coulson walked over to Steve, ignoring Widow, who was the only other person in the room. "Can I have a word Captain?"

Steve looked at the plain looking man who had fanboyed at him earlier on the Quinjet. There was no trace of the fanboy now in his demeanor. That helped Steve relax a little. He'd never really known how to handle non-military types who wanted to shake his hand when he'd become a celebrity. It was no different in this day and age. "What can I do for you Agent Coulson?"

Coulson handed him a tablet. "You know how to use this?"

Steve nodded slowly. He wasn't great at technology, but as long as people pulled up what they wanted him to read he was ok with tablets, or computers. He was still getting a handle on the internet, but he couldn't navigate the SHIELD database yet, but he was getting there. He'd only been awake for a little over a month. Less than two weeks ago he'd seen his first computer keyboard.

Coulson nodded with military precision. The familiar mannerism made Steve feel serener than before. "Read that file." He ordered him. "That's my notes and evaluation of Zor El. Not the redacted and edited version you've likely seen." He gave the Captain a stern look. "There are several things you need to keep in mind as you look that over, and when you talk to that young woman."

Steve looked at the stern looking man with some concern. "And what would that be?" He asked curious and anxious to read the file.

"One, I'm her handler. No one in SHIELD has more contact and knows more about her than I do." He told him flatly. Steve nodded, he understood that Agent Coulson was telling him between the lines, next time he had an issue with her ask him about her, not Tony. "Two, she is a warrior, that armor she wears was earned in battle. She might look like a young teenager but she is as much a soldier as you are, and as you heard, she is older than she appears. None of us know how old she is, even her"

Steve looked surprised, but the words rang true with what he had seen of her so far. Coulson continued when Steve gave a wordless nod. "Asgard has its own code of conduct for warriors, and warrior honor. Don't challenge her honor again, or you might end up in an honor fight to the death if you go too far. She's a fair minded girl, but she is a warrior. I heard the tape. She gave you a pass. I suggest you correct your mistake, or she likely will not respect you." He warned the old hero.

Steve looked a little put out by the lecture. "But she respects Tony." His chin lifted not understanding why.

"Tony earned her respect by helping with civilians, on the ground when needed, and putting his money to use helping people." Coulson replied with a shrug. "She is teaching him her code, which is where I got most of the information in the file regarding it." Coulson paused as Steve took that information in, and looked a little more curious again, rather than mulish. Tony's file had painted a very different picture than what Agent Coulson was saying. He had a sinking feeling as he looked at the man once more.

"Is there anything else I should know before I go read this?" Steve asked crisply, his soldier bearing starting to once more come through. He'd never been a good soldier. He was so used to following his own moral compass. That made it difficult to just take orders. It was one of the reasons the Army let him lead the fight against Hydra. If they hadn't, he'd have just done things his way anyway. He'd earned the respect of the men with the single handed rescue of the 107th, and if the generals and majors didn't follow Steve, the Howling Commandos would. That's not to say he didn't try to be a good soldier. He just didn't really fit the profile once he'd undergone the procedure to become Captain America, but he did try.

"Remember that she has lost her whole world, literally." Coulson added sternly, his tone held the tiniest hint of sorrow and protectiveness. "That is not a metaphor. Asgard and Loki are her family and home, period. End of sentence. Do not question it." He paused as Steve took in the warning. "You don't have to trust him, but don't use him as a scapegoat the way Agent Romanoff tried to. Blame him for his actions, not those of others. She will respect that. She might not like it, but she will respect you for the honesty."

Steve couldn't help but flick his eyes over to where the red-headed agent was still seated listening in on their conversation. She wasn't even pretending she wasn't doing it. Her eyes were fixed on Coulson, but there was a curiosity in her eyes that didn't reach the rest of her body. If he didn't watch for that kind of thing Steve would have totally missed it. People watching had been his thing before the transformation. Human reactions were something he knew how to read. Widow was a contradiction, which made her hard to trust and figure out.

"There are very few Zor El loves and trusts. Don't make yourself her enemy. Fury is toeing a line he shouldn't be. If you want the Avengers to work, and her to be an unofficial part of the team, you have to know her limits, and boundaries. In any other circumstance we would likely have more leeway, but with Loki as the focus here, there will be none."

Steve gave him a crisp nod and left to go read the files. Coulson turned to Natasha. "Next time ask me how to play with the others. Start pulling your punches with Zor El, or else she won't pull hers either. You know if you go toe-to-toe with her, you will lose."

Natasha nodded and pulled up her own tablet. She wasn't surprised to find her own tablet had a file in her messages from Coulson for her to read. Coulson rarely rebuked her. This was only the third time since her defection. Even she agreed she'd deserved the others ones; Budapest being the one that still rang in her ears. Coulson had actually yelled at her and Barton over that one. If he was being this active in persuading her, she'd fucked up by listening to Fury, but her own training was warning her Fury had it right. She too took the tablet and left the room to do her research. She needed to see if she was compromised by the relationship with Clint and his family. The file would help clarify a few things for her, hopefully.

The new three science buddies; Bruce, Kara and Tony, had set themselves up in one of the SHIELD labs that had been assigned to Bruce earlier when he originally came aboard before Stuttgart. Bruce felt a little out of the loop as Kara and Tony seamlessly began to work the systems, setting up the programs to begin connecting to the detection devices worldwide via satellite to their command center, and settling into a familiar pattern of splitting the work between themselves.

While they were doing that Bruce was reviewing to Gamma radiation output that SHIELD had detected while the Tesseract was in use. Someone had brought the Scepter into the room and set it on a stand behind him. He'd been told the Scepter was linked to the Tesseract, and it was radiating miniscule amounts of Gamma Radiation. Nothing that was dangerous for small time exposure. The amount was so low it was equal to being in a room _with_ cancer drugs, and not actually taking them. There was no danger, but the presence of it made his skin crawl.

Bruce listened as they set things up and realized immediately that they were actually finishing each other's sentences as they set things up. It was like watching and listening to tennis match. He was startled to realize that while he'd been zoned out, Zor El had changed into jeans and a Disney villains t-shirt. Somehow Maleficent seemed fitted on her, given her connection to Loki, how also seemed to like horns.

"I have the NORAD satellites-"Zor El would start.

"Online and searching for all detection devices within-" Tony would reply.

"Range of all the Eastern Universities, Mid-West coming on line now." She'd continued.

"West Coast is going to take their sweet time." Tony scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "They never move quickly. It'll take an hour before they will be available for scanning."

Bruce just shook his head and kept his head down as they setup the world-wide network. Every major university in the world was placing their Gamma detection devices on the roof of their science buildings. He'd asked SHIELD for the same thing nearly twelve hours earlier, but SHIELD didn't seem to have the right motivational factors, like Tony's money.

Stark and Zor El were footing the bill for each school, or lab that complied with a five thousand dollar grant for moving the detection device to a roof for their search. And an extra five thousand if those same schools and labs got them up and running in less than an hour.

Going over the data he realized that the Gamma Radiation that the Tesseract was putting out was equal to that of a neutron star. Not exactly surprising once Zor El had explained the power of an infinity stone on their way down to the lab, but still it was not something that Bruce had wrapped his mind around yet. Gamma Rays was the shortest wavelength of all energy on Earth. At least that had been experienced and measured so far on Earth (who knew if shorter waves would be found in the future). These wavelengths they would be searching for would be so short it would actually be easy to program the algorithm to ignore hospital's with a Nuclear Medicine departments, and universities that studied Gamma Radiation. The waves they were searching for were much shorter than even those Gamma waves from those places.

The level of Gamma Radiation used by the Tesseract made the rays he'd been looking at when he'd had his 'accident' look long and drawn out. He quickly wrote the level of wavelength into the algorithm, and then uploaded it to Zor El and Stark's search pattern system to upload to the detection devices.

All in all the setup and running of the search only took him about twenty-five minutes once he had the data from the SHEILD experiments. Zor El and Stark took about three hours, but they only had to work hard for that first hour, after that it was a matter of just uploading the algorithm to each new device as it came online.

Between the Stark satellites, NORAD, NASA and whatever detection system Zor El had access to, something she called Brainiac, they were world-wide with only large portions of Asia, Antarctica, and Africa not covered. It was unlikely that Loki would have stashed Selvig in any of those locations, since he'd need a power plant at some point to open the portal. None of the deep dark forests or open plain deserts of those regions had power plants of that magnitude.

He also noticed that both Zor El and Stark seemed to be using more than one algorithm. One was his, and there were two others, Bruce was unsure what they were looking for. He certainly didn't want to get involved or ask. Zor El was a little intense when she had been arguing with both Fury and Thor. She'd been calm and collected since they had been in the lab. Still Banner was wary of the girl or alien, whatever she was, she was too volatile for him to get close to.

"JARVIS and Brainiac have finished their search." She muttered quietly to Tony. "You were right. He's calling it Phase II."

"Who is calling what Phase II?" Steve asked as he walked into the lab to see what they were up to. He'd originally come to talk to Zor El, to see if they could patch things up between them. The file had been eye-opening, and it was obvious that Coulson had known the reports he'd been given were full of inaccuracies, such as the ability to hold a gun with her gauntlets. While she could store a gun wherever her armor was right now for example, but in her armor there was no way she could use one. The fingers of the gauntlet were not designed to hold one.

"Fury's little secret pet nuclear deterrent program." Tony deadpanned to the Super Soldier. "Weapons more powerful than the strongest atomic bomb the world has ever made and not tested because it could wipe out all life for thousands of miles forever type deal."

Kara sat back and closed her eyes. She was hoping to avoid any dust-ups in the lab. Tony was being a little alpha male for her tastes right now. Steve had managed to sound a little too much like Howard when he had walked in. She knew it was unintentional. Steve did come from the same era as Howard, but that tone was sure to set Tony off when directed at him.

"World killers," She breathed a sigh of disappointment, "Well damn. I'd hoped they had stopped that since it was still pre-production when I was last in the computer system a year ago. I should have kept a closer eye on them obviously." She was seriously angry at herself for not monitoring Fury more closely.

Bruce looked astonished as he stared at them both. "That's the other algorithm you were running? You both were searching SHIELD's databases for Fury's hidden projects?"

"Worse. He made weapons like the ones used by HYDRA back in the day too. Only they are more advanced now and can kill multiple targets with one beam instead of only one at a time." Tony added with disgust. "Nothing like carrying a pistol, or a rifle, that can wipe out entire city blocks of people before needing to reload."

At the name HYDRA Steve's body went into alert mode. Even after seventy plus years in ice the name was enough to make Steve ready to fight and kill his enemies. Most people bought into the whitewashed "boy-next-door" image the Army had painted of him and the Howling Commandos after the war. Most people he had met since waking up had not put together that he had been a 'super SOLDIER', and the display at the Smithsonian never mentioned his kill count. His personal number was in the hundreds, and that was only the official count. That didn't count the bodies that were incinerated to ash when he used HYDRA's own weapons against them. Even he had no idea how many men he had killed in his life, nor did he want to know.

Kara groaned and put her face down mumbling about the stupidity of the human race in Kryptonese as Tony glared at the screen in front of him.

"You shouldn't be going through those files." Fury growled as he came around the corner and shouldered Rogers out of his way as he entered the room. "You are causing a security breach."

"And you are playing with forces that you do not understand." Kara spat at him. "You're lucky it's only Loki and these Chitauri that have attacked so far. Playing with the Tesseract sent a call out to the universe saying 'Hey every power hungry warlord and want-to-be-Warlord in the galaxy, here I am come get me'. You are like a rabbit in a snare screaming to be let go and every hunter in the forest is now looking at the trap and wondering if it's for real or not. One day someone is going to come to poke at the trap and take a good look to see if you are worth the risk."

"We weren't the first to do so." Fury growled back at her. "No one came after World War II, what makes you so sure they will now?"

Kara smirked darkly and laughed in his face. "You are so mistaken if you honestly think that. What makes you think no one responded before?" She asked him with a laugh still in her voice.

"Your brother is the first to attack." Fury answered with his vein in the temple pulsing very fast once more. Kara was again surprised how quickly the man seemed to anger.

"Loki was also handed an army no one in the Nine Realms has heard of before." She told him point-blank, catching everyone off guard. Thor hadn't mentioned that Asgard hadn't known of them before. Kara only knew that because she'd had to memorize all the enemies of Asgard, and all the races as part of her lessons. The Chitauri were not on the list.

"An army that had no quick way of crossing the World Tree to get here until Loki used the Tesseract's call to pull himself here. It would have taken them at least another decade to get here from the outer edges… And why did they stir at all?" Kara taunted the man, "Because suddenly the best concealed of all the infinity stones, was suddenly calling out and making itself known. It makes interstellar travel, almost instantaneous for those with the knowledge and the technology to use it to its full potential."

Fury quickly stormed out of the room without answering her. Everyone else stared at her in astonishment.

"Seriously," Tony glared at her with an intensely thoughtful look on his face. "You think this invasion was in the works since the 1940s?"

Kara shrugged and suddenly looked like a frightened young girl. "Yeah, I do Tony. That army was ready to go, possibly already moving when it found Loki." The more she considered the time frame and what she knew of interstellar war, which thanks to Asgard was very extensive.

It would take decades to produce and collect enough forces, ships and supplies to make such a long journey. This type of invasion was an all or nothing endeavor. There was no going back. No launching zone. No supply lines. This type of plan was suicide, unless your numbers and battle plans were so well executed that there was no cause for concern. The enemy needed to be crushed quickly. There was no hope of reinforcements or resupply. Anyone who had ever played a simple video game could tell you how bad a plan that had to be, unless the target was so soft you expected it to roll over immediately.

She pulled an image up and it showed advanced mathematical equations and a map of their galaxy and other planetoids all superimposed over an image of a tree. There were more planetoids on her map than any map on Earth. Humans just didn't have the power, technology, or ability to see that far into space.

Nine of the planetoids suddenly lit up bright gold, and were circled. Midgard was at the top end of the trunk of the tree. There was one Realm below and the rest were scattered in the 'branches' of the Tree, but in close proximity of Midgard. "These are the Nine Realms." She told them. "These other planets are the other empires, or pockets of civilization outside the Nine." She added, pointing to each of the different colored areas. The Kree Empire was lit up a light blue. The Skrull Empire was green. Nova Core Space was yellow. The unclaimed space of the Void was in grey. Knowhere was also in the grey region near the Nova Core border.

"The further one is from the center of the Tree of Life the harder it is to live." She told them, explaining the other planets outside the Nine in the branches of the tree. "The one directly above Midgard is Asgard herself."

Everyone was in awe of the map. "The Bifröst connects these Realms normally, allowing the same type of transfers as the Tesseract, but with less power output." Rainbow colored lines immediately ran from each Realm back to Asgard. "If one had access to Midgard with the power of the Tesseract, they could connect to all the planets in the Universe, because Midgard is the Nexis Point of the World Tree." She explained, the lines leaving from Earth connected to every Galaxy with a dark blue line.

"That's why they need Earth." Tony snarled with rage and disbelief. "We are the key to everything if they have the Tesseract."

Kara nodded and the lines disappeared. "The reason why I think this has been in the works for a long time is this." Several pinpoints of light started to flare up, all of them along the outer edges of the Tree's branches on the left-hand side of the image. "These are the calculated possible locations that the unstable wormhole Loki fell into could have ended up. There are still several hundred uncheck, and possible locations I had yet to finish calculations for. All of these areas are on the edge of the World Tree. Anything that lived outside would have had to find a way inside the World Tree first. That takes time. Time needed to find a weak spot, and then exploit it to re-enter the sphere of this Tree."

"So what does all this mean?" Steve asked. Banner was quietly trying to calm his pulse, he could feel a little of Hulk's green persona trying to surface because unlike Steve, Banner knew what she was about to say. It took all his control to keep Hulk down.

"That if Fury and Red Skull hadn't started playing with forces they couldn't control, we wouldn't have opened a backdoor for the bad guys to enter from." Tony replied before she could. "They would have been billions of light years away from Earth, unaware of us. Now they will be here in a matter of days rather than possible decades or centuries."

"Pretty much," Kara responded carefully. With jump ship capability they could have been here in a matter of a decade, there were too many points of space without a jump pattern along the rim. They'd have to gone years in Void space before getting close enough to make a Jump. As advanced as Tony's work was, he was nowhere near jump ship capable. If this army was being controlled by someone of a celestial level however, Kara was going to rethink her 'Prime Directive' and just let Tony have full access to Brainiac.

"So that's it then. We are in a war now?" Steve asked somewhat in shock.

Kara sighed and nodded. "To be fair, no one knew better. And this Red Skull you fought likely had no idea beyond the myths of Asgard what he was playing with. He had no idea what he started by adapting the Infinity Stone powers into weapons. And Asgard should have stopped him. No one seemed to notice, which I find very odd… There is some hope. Until that portal is open they are still on the other side of the branches."

Tony snorted. "Don't let any of them off the hook for this Blue. Fury knew better than to play with forces he knew nothing about." Tony shook his head in disgust, running his hands over his face in aggravation.

"Like you wouldn't have if the Tesseract was in your hands?" Steve scoffed. He knew that Howard wouldn't have been able to stop playing with it, and neither would any of the 'technologists' of his own time. He doubted Tony was any different.

Kara snorted because she knew unless she stepped in Tony would do just that if he'd had the Tesseract first. It was always the same story when it came to the Infinity Gems. Someone found them, tried to use them and gained the attention of someone bigger and more powerful. They fell out of use when the people who had them finally knew better than to use them. They then hid them from the rest of the uncivilized portions of the galaxy.

"I certainly wouldn't be feeding the damn thing more power without understanding it fully at resting phases." Tony defended himself. Kara nodded absently. She was quickly calculating just how wide the opening could be with Earth technology and the Iridium.

Steve was aggravated by Tony's answer and Kara's absent acceptance of it. He felt unnaturally on edge. Talking of HYDRA and mass murdering weapons had him feeling as if the world was on the edge of another World War. Only this time people like Tony weren't going to save the world, they were going to destroy it.

"So you'd play hero and pretend that you are helping instead of being part of the problem." Steve spat out, not really sure why or even how those thoughts came to him.

"I don't play hero." Tony snarled back at him. "And I certainly don't prance around on a stage pretending to beat up the bad guys either."

Steve really got angry at that. He might have done that before he got a chance to be in the field, but he had more than earned his stripes in battle, long before Tony was born. "You got that right. You are no hero. You're just an ego-driven narcissist with a god-complex."

"And everything special about you came out of a bottle." Tony snarled back, getting right up into Steve's face. The two were chest to chest in some kind of testosterone battle of wills. Bruce was moving further away and almost out the other door as they battled for some kind of supremacy in the middle of the room.

"What are you without your suit?" Rogers asked sarcastically.

"Stark naked," Kara pipped up suddenly, reminding them all she was still sitting there. Her voice sound strange as it rang with equal amounts of sarcasm and innocence. Before he could start on one of his little rants and gain any steam, her interruption stopped Tony and Steve in their tracks. She had needed to break the tension and it was the first thing that popped into her head. "He's totally Stark Naked… Get it?" She giggled with a scrunched up face and her tongue sticking out with her finger in her mouth pretending to gag.

Everyone turned and stared at her in disbelief. She returned their looks with an innocent smile. She was really using her young girl looks at the moment, twilling a lock of hair around her finger and swinging her crossed legs back and forth. "What? You don't want to see it by the way... scary sight." She told them with mock-seriousness while waving her hands towards Tony's 'assets'.

Tony didn't know if he wanted to strangle her, and laugh himself silly over the comment. Her actions, which he knew were a complete act, were a little too over the top. "You little brat… When have you been peeking at me naked?" He managed to keep a straight and dignified face. Steve was just staring at her in a mix of astonished amusement, and horror. Bruce on the other-hand was trying not to laugh at the suddenness of the interruption and the comedic timing.

Kara gave Tony a bored look as she dropped her act a little. "I looked you up before we met, remember?" She turned a serious look to Steve. "Did you know an image search of 'Tony Stark' is considered an honest to gosh porn search on most search engines?" She glared at him heatedly. "I didn't…"

Tony scoffed and waved her disgust away as if it didn't matter. "They cover the important bits up."

Kara snorted as Steve's head starting swinging back and forth as he watched them argue. "Bull!" Kara cried out. "Not all of them do! I swear, warnings popped up asking if I was sure I wanted the result of 'Tony Stark'. Pepper should have warned me. I was as new to the internet as Captain A over there." Kara pretended to shivered at the memory as she pointed at Steve.

She'd never seen a fully naked man before that image search. Bare to the waist yes, fully bare no. It had been a complete shock to her at the time, and she had stared at the image for several seconds before Brainiac had shut it off. She now knew what human men looked like, and she hoped Asgardian men were similarly built, and not much bigger.

Kara's statement seemed to have derailed whatever was on Steve's mind because he was blushing, and staring at her, as if he was trying to figure out if he should be offended on her behalf or not. "But you're underage, how could you get those kinds of images?" He finally asked when he stopped sputtering.

Kara's fingers whipped over the keyboard and she turned the holoscreen by Steve on. On it was a google search for images of Tony Stark pre 2010. Dozens of pictures with carefully pixelated squares came up on the screen, and a couple that didn't. "Age has nothing to do with it dude." She did her best to mimic Darcy's speech patterns. "You just have to know what you want, or in this case what it type, 'cuz I so do not need to see this, or ever really want to see it again."

Steve blushed even deeper as he got an eyeful of Stark, san clothing or pixels. He turned and stared at Tony in even more horror as she purposefully looked away from the screens. Kara smirked satisfied with her prank. "I warned you that you didn't want to see it." Steve gapped at her a moment before he shook his head, turned and stalked out in a hurry. He realized it was the only way to end the situation and teasing. He had totally forgotten the fight that had started in the first place due to his embarrassment.

Kara smirked like a Cheshire cat and Tony came over and clicked the search off and kissed her on the top of her head. "Nice job, next time let's not use my naked ass to make a man blush, hmmm." He suggested proudly, knowing full well what she had been doing and why.

"But it's such a pretty blush." Kara cackled evilly, "Doesn't it make you feel sexy to have _THE Captain America_ blushing over your package, 'cuz I'll bet you a million bucks it wasn't your butt that had him blushing like a school girl caught looking under a sleeping scot's kilt."

Tony frowned at her. "No, that makes me feel cheap and dirty."

Bruce who had managed to stay out of things so far finally couldn't help it, he chuckled, an honest to goodness manly giggle. Kara and Tony turned to stare at the now mortified scientist. "Sorry, it's just you both are too funny."

"Is my ass big or something?" Tony finally asked slightly aggravated. "Blushing or laughing, not sure which I like less when men are looking at my bare ass."

"Keep it covered and it won't be a problem." Kara muttered as she went back to work looking for the Tesseract with Earth tech. Brainiac had it limited to Eastern Seaboard at this point, but whoever had it, had shielded it. Loki most likely had masked its signal from Brainiac since he knew the system almost as well as Kara did.

That thought reminded her. She breathed into her comm in her ear. "Brainiac does Loki have access to your systems?"

"No." Brainiac replied at the same level. "I locked his main access out when you reported his death at the Fortress. I did a final lockdown upon the retirement of his image. Only your and Kal-El's access cannot be revoked upon death."

Kara's brow knitted as she thought about it. "You didn't reinstate it when I found out he wasn't dead."

"I thought it prudent not to since he seems to be working against the interests of Midgard at this time." Brainiac answered matter of factually. "I will continue to deny him access until he can be biometrically scanned by my own scanners to insure he is in fact Loki Odinson of Asgard, and not a clone or any other form of deception."

Kara sighed and looked down at her chest. "That's for the best I guess." She knew he wasn't a clone. His aura was there. She had felt it. That aura was not something that Brainiac had been programed to detect. So a full scan including a check for known injuries would be needed.

"There has been no attempt as of yet to access my systems." Brainiac assured her. "Nor any attempt to access the Fortress; direct, or remotely."

That again made no sense to Kara. Unless he knew she had been in the Fortress when he arrived, which she hadn't been. It would have been the perfect place to make his base of operations. Except he didn't know she had raised the temperature inside to be warm enough for the humans. That meant he needed the humans he'd captured with the scepter's power as much as he needed the Tesseract, which again made no sense. Loki would know how to use the Tesseract with Asgardian technology. He'd also know the Fortress was capable of making any type of device he could possibly want, except a starship. The Fortress just wasn't big enough for producing a Starport, or shipwright for anything bigger than a pod.

Kara pulled up the papers that Tony had read the night before. Like Barry Allen, she needed to read a bit slower than her fastest speeds to retain and assimilate the knowledge in the theses. Research papers where always so boring to read, but at the end of it she agreed with everything Tony and Bruce had said in the conference room. She began to do the calculations and found that for most power plants in the Northern Seaboard of the US they would be able to create a round or oval opening about the size of a football field. He was limited mostly by the amount of Iridium that he'd stolen. Only advanced tech like an Omegahedron could open the portal wider. If he got an Omegahedron, it could be half a mile wide.

"Oh fuck!" She exclaimed as her thoughts caught up with what she was thinking with reality. With Brainiac, and the Fortress, Loki would have been able to produce, and manufacture everything he would have needed to build the portal. A portal that by her rough calculations would have been several miles high and wide and be opened as long as he wanted, with no resistance in coming through since Humans didn't have the technology to fight in extreme arctic conditions that were common in the far north of Norway, even at this time of year.

Tony who had been playing with a pen while he was talking to Bruce dropped his pen and snapped around. Even Banner who didn't know her very well snapped his head up at stared at her open mouthed.

"You never swear… Ever! You are not allowed to swear… you swearing means the world is ending." Tony began to babble.

"Brainiac," She asked in Old Norse, "Are all the Omegahedron's accounted for?"

Brainiac didn't respond for a moment. "All but the one you gave Loki before you left Asgard four years ago."

Kara began to hyperventilate. "Oh Fuck!" Tony paled as Kara looked pale as a sheet. He quickly moved over and kneeled in front of her and took her hands. "Breath slowly Blue."

"He has an Omegahedron Tony." Kara breathed out in shock. Tony hadn't heard the Kryptonian word before so he had no idea what it was. "If he had gone to the Fortress he could have done everything without us ever knowing where and what he was doing!"

"What is an Omegahedron?" He asked her trying to keep her calm. Bruce was also watching her with his eyes blown wide open, his fists tight as he breathed slowly.

"He doesn't need a power source to break the coulomb barrier. He already had one." She explained just as scared as Tony. "An Omegahedron is a Kryptonian power source. One could power a Kryptonian city the same way your arc reactor is going to power Stark Tower, but instead of only a year, it could do so to the entire city for years. With it Loki could open the wormhole to unknown space a mile wide for years!"

"So we are talking one of those ZPM's from Stargate?" Tony asked her trying to get a frame of reference.

"We're talking more like instead of three needed to power the city shields for thousands of years, they'd only need one Omegahedron, and still have power to run everything when they arrived for decades." She explained quietly. "No need for Weir to go back in time to be there to change them out as they died either!" Tony couldn't keep the surprise off his face. He knew Kryptonians were more advanced than Earth, but this was more power than he could imagine. This Omegahedron was basically the equivalent to an unlimited power source for a city the size of New York. "And Loki has one?" Tony asked her quietly.

"I think so." She whispered back, dread spilling out. "It's in his pocket."

"So he could open a portal from anywhere if he had access to this thing?" Bruce finally broke in. "He doesn't need a reactor or anything, he could open it literally anywhere?"

Kara nodded slowly, her mind racing as she tried to put things together. Nothing was adding up! Loki himself would have to link the two devices. Omegahedron's were easy to use, but they were tied to Kryptonian DNA. All of them required her to activate them, except Loki's. She had tied to both of them so he could use it for some experiments he had wanted to try.

"I gave it to him." She whispered softly. "I have to go see him." She said strangely hollow sounding as she stood.

"I'll go with you." Tony told her. He stood and his suit powered up as he walked over it to.

"No," she ordered sharply, turning away from them both, worry etched in her eyes and face as she tried to grapple with the consequences if Loki was planning to use the device. "Stay here and try to trace the damn cube." Her eyes blazed. "I'll get the Omegahedron, or he'll die for real this time."

On the way down to Loki's cell she marched past Thor, Fury and Natasha at different points on her way down to the detention center. All three had decided to follow her for their own reasons as they saw her pass them looking like she was on a mission to execute someone. She didn't expect Loki to give up the Omegahedron easily. Not if his plans revolved around its use. She would not allow her own technology to be used against Midgard.

When Kara entered the cell containment area the others were ushered into the recording room by Coulson. "She needs to talk to him privately." Coulson assured them. He'd been listening in at the lab and knew what the problem was, and what she was going to do.

Unlike some of his subordinates he liked Stargate, and Stargate: Atlantis. He did prefer SG-1 to Atlantis, but that was a personal choice. He knew what she had meant when she was explaining about the power output capabilities of this Krypton power source. He didn't want Fury to ruin her chances of retrieving the device. He would try and take it if he could. Fury was really pushing his limits since they had come on board and it was beginning to make Coulson suspicious.

Kara had just walked into the lighted area and Loki had seemed confused to see her. "I wasn't expecting you so soon… Sister." He hissed the title at her.

Kara glared at him hatefully which was a new thing for Thor to see. "Something isn't right, my sister has never looked at him that way." He muttered softly to the others. "Nor does he call her sister, and certainly never in that tone has he ever hissed at her to my recollection." he mused. He knew Loki had only ever referred to her as sister a handful of times, all before he began to work with her once her powers began to develop. Loki always used her name once he had begun training her. He never titles for those he cared for, or taught, unless it was a formal situation. For Kara it was almost always ' _My Kara_ '. He rarely called her anything else since he learned Kryptonese.

"Where is it Loki?" She snarled, even from the bad camera angle it was easy to see she was furious by her clenched fists and how tight her body was coiled. With the jeans and t-shirt, there really wasn't much hidden.

"I have no idea." He smirked with insincere innocence at her. "I don't have it." Thinking she was discussing the Tesseract. He felt a bit smug for hiding it from even her technology, even though it was biting him in the ass now. He had intended for her to be unable to trace it until it was too late. He'd hoped she would stay out of the fight, but knew it was be inevitable, still he'd hoped to keep her out of it for as long as possible.

"I'm not talking about the useless bloody Tesseract." She spat at him fiercely and Loki sat up and took notice of her ferocity and panic. She was hiding the panic well behind the mask of an avenging Valkyrie.

"I'm talking about the FUCKING Omegahedron. WHERE. IS. IT?" She screamed at him she nearly rushed the cage, remembering only at the last second not to touch the glass. Her fist would go right through the glass and drop them both out of the helicarrier. Loki didn't even blink, though inwardly he was just as stunned as Stark had been. In all the time he'd never known Kara to use a vulgar word with such venom. He'd heard her ask about words before, innocently, never like this however. It was a bit frightening and as ashamed as it made him feel, arousing.

In the control room Thor sucked in a loud startled deep breath. "She is truly angry. I would not send anyone in there, or allow anyone to ask questions if I were you." He advised as he unconsciously moved away from the screen. Everyone else took his advice and stayed where they were just watching through the monitors. Coulson had heard her swear in the lab, but seeing her body language as she did added a level of scary he really didn't need.

"I didn't know she swore." Natasha replied with only a slightly raised brow was the only indication she was uncomfortable with his statement.

"She does not, even when severely provoked." Was all Thor would say, his arms crossed and his feet spread shoulder-width apart showed his reluctance to continue speaking on the matter. Natasha was especially unnerved, though she didn't physically show it. She'd caught enough over the comms to know when Supergirl had bitched Thor out and was about to kill him she hadn't sworn once. 'Bloody' was as close as she'd come to swearing during that fight, and truly only the British considered that word to be a 'swear word'.

In the room Kara and Loki were in a stare off. Loki was projecting an angry image, but inside he was sweating. He'd hidden the Omegahedron, and the Casket of Winters from 'The Other', and his master so far. Now 'The Other' was trying to get access to the memories about the device. Loki was trying to keep him out of the protected section of his mind.

It took his several seconds for Loki to respond. "Both are in my secret rooms on Asgard." He finally said through clenched teeth, answering both Kara and 'The Other'. His use of both was to draw attention away from the Omegahedron if he could. The Casket wasn't useful in this operation, but it could be of use if the Chitauri managed to win only a marginal victory. 'The Other' took the bait and watched the image of the casket and its use, he was unimpressed and let the matter go.

'Secret rooms' was code for their storage spaces. Loki would never leave things in rooms on Asgard. He would not have access to his things when he needed them. He preferred to place important items in his interdimensional storage, and have it with him at all times, especially something as powerful as the Omegahedron. Loki was too paranoid to leave something that powerful lying around where almost anyone could take it.

Kara was now confused. Loki had just told her he had it on him, and that it was in Asgard. "Which secret room, the one accessed from your bedroom, or the experimental one?" This question was a test. Depending on his answer it would tell her where the Omegahedron was for certain, and he would be admitting to some mind control, or his memories were scrambled. If they were scrambled it could indicate he was in fact a mind-wiped in some fashion and not the real Loki anymore.

"The experimental one," He admitted softly, as if in pain as he said it, "I can't access it from here."

Kara's eyes widened. Loki always had access to the storage space. If he couldn't access it, it meant he had locked down access to some of the objects in the space, or he was out-of-magic. Being out-of-magic was extremely dangerous for mages to do, and he would not be walking around as he was, if that was the case. He'd be in a coma. Loki, as long as he had enough magic within him to be awake and walking, and could still access his space if he truly wanted to. No one else could force him to open that area though.

Kara didn't have that ability to open his space since she didn't have her own magic. Anyone who was strong enough to overpower Loki's spells could access her storage space as long as they knew she had one. They could access Loki's too, but only if they overpowered him and knew what they were looking for. It wasn't like picking a pocket. The owner had to call the object back from the dimensional pocket. Kara couldn't think of anyone who would be strong enough to overpower a mage as strong as Loki, except maybe Odin. He could only do that with the full power of the Odinforce being used to augment his strength, otherwise even Odin wasn't half as strong as Loki at full power . Either way he'd told her what she needed to know.

"Thank Rao!" She breathed deeply before she turned and began to leave. Hope returned to her as she took a deep breath and relaxed. Loki was being controlled to an extent. Now it was a matter of losing that control. She only had to look for a way to do it.

"Sister," Loki called sounding more like himself, "Surely you wanted to know about more than a little trinket." He teased, but the tone had a slightly menacing cold feel to it. It didn't feel like Loki who was speaking now.

Kara didn't even look back. " _My Loki_ would have known what the Omegahedron meant to me… You are not _My Loki_ , you are a worthless clone." The Loki in the cell looked completely shocked before his eyes flashed a deep dark blue in anger. His fist banged on the glass, shaking the whole cell once in warning. Loki carefully took a step back towards the center, a look of hatred pasted on his face.

"What is an Omegahedron? And why did she call him a clone? Is that not Loki in that cell?" Fury finally asked Thor as they walked in step together back towards the lab once Kara had passed them by on her way back, Coulson bringing up the rear right behind the two men.

Thor gave them a blank look as he tried to formulate his answer. "I have never heard of this Omegahedron, it must be some type of Kryptonian technology. I know not its purpose." He admitted. "As for the clone comment, I do not know." He shrugged as if it did not concern him in the slightest, even though it had been serious enough to get his sister to tear down to the detention cell and scream and curse out their brother.

"I am unsure why she would make such a comment. That is Loki." He confirmed for Fury as they walked. "His godly aura is not something a clone could replicate. It would be missing even if the clone was made of his body. Even identical twins on Asgard have unique auras." He assured him with as much certainty as he could project into his voice. "His mind is far afield, perhaps she does not understand how to read his aura as of yet." He suggested to him. "She is new to being a goddess, and has had no training in her new powers, whatever they may be."

Both Coulson and Fury took mental note of the fact that no one knew what Zor El was the goddess of, and the fact that she could still get even more powerful. It wasn't a comforting thought for the spy, or the handler. Fury closed his eyes for a moment as his stomach dropped at the idea that she could have powers like Loki that he had full use of, or Thor that were still untapped and largely uncontrolled. Considering there was already a goddess of war, according to the legends already, Fury hoped that Supergirl would get something much less destructive, like flowers. He could handle her being a goddess of flowers… maybe.

Fury brushed past the, at present, useless warrior prince, and started to follow after Kara determined to find out if this Kryptonian device was a threat to his ship or not. He took the quicker route to the lab, not realizing Kara had taken a different route back.

Natasha walked into Loki's cell area after Thor had followed Fury down the hall. If he had stayed he might have been able to stop Natasha from misunderstanding the 'monster' comment, because he knew better than anyone how much Loki had feared the Frost Giants as a very young child. It had taken years for Loki to stop having nightmares so severe that he'd cross the hall and jump into Thor's bed to hide from them. Thor had always pretended to not notice when Loki had slip into his bed around midnight, or when he had sneaked out at dawn. Even as a youngling, Loki had been prideful.

The only monster Loki was talking about was the one he believed himself to be. His look of puzzlement when she ran out telling agents over her comm unit to secure Banner was one of confused bemusement, not triumph at besting a fellow trickster.


	4. Loki's Escape

SoA- Part 3

Chapter 4 - Loki's Rescue

Kara had needed a moment to calm down so she had walked a roundabout route back to the lab slowly. Thinking Loki had the Omegahedron had scared her like nothing had in a long time. She was now sure of one thing; Loki was in there, but not in complete control. She'd have to think of a way to save him, not only from the mind-control, but from taking the blame when he returned to Asgard. Calling him a clone had been a chance to see if the controller would still try to play games now that she 'wasn't convinced' by the act. She'd felt the menacing presence and hoped the cameras on the cell had captured something she could use later to help prove her theory.

Most mind-control spells required a level of awareness by the caster. When she had challenged Loki's identity the presence had manifested just enough for her senses to pick up. There was no way a human would feel it, and even if they did they would not understand what it was they were sensing.

Kara had just reached the lab and could hear Steve, Tony, Fury, Thor and Banner inside arguing with Natasha about pretty much everything. They were all talking over one another. One of the things that stood out most was Thor. His arrogant attitude and the loud carrying pitch of his voice were overly exaggerated, even for him. In a nutshell the group was a hot mess as she approached the doorway. She could feel the same foreign seiðr influencing the whole room and reaching out for her mind.

When the highly advanced arrow shot by Hawkeye from an approaching Quinjet exploded inside the engine on the starboard side Helicarrier engine, the force of the explosion and the unexpectedness of it, threw everyone, even Kara off-balance. She stumbled into Steve as he staggered about trying to keep on his feet. The force of the collision with the solid hero had her falling backwards. She instinctively reached out for Steve's shoulder. The force of the floor rocking and Kara pulling on his shoulder threw him off-balance. They both ended up falling into the hallway, rolling across the floor, and landed against the far wall, away from the lab.

"You're heavier than you look." He grunted as he pushed her up and off of his chest where she had ended up. Once he got to his feet he offered his hand to help her stand up.

Kara whipped her hair out of her face with an exasperated look on her face as she reached for his hand and actually used her powers to bring herself up to her feet so she wouldn't fall again. "Everyone always says that." She huffed making sure they were both on their feet before checking the room.

Fury was stumbling towards them out into the hall as Hulk roared and ran the other direction, with Thor in hot pursuit. Kara didn't see Widow. Tony was in the process of powering up his suit in the corner where he had left it, and likely talking to JARVIS.

"How likely are we to fall out of the sky?" She asked Fury seriously. As easily as she could deal with the infiltration of the huge ship, the lives of all the crewmembers onboard were more important.

Fury looked grim and determined. "Depends on how much damage Hulk does, or if they take out a second engine. This bird needs at least three to hover, two engines to fall slowly, but they have to be opposite engines. Barton knows that. If he takes out the other starboard engine we'll slip sideways from the air." Kara didn't know or care how he knew it was Barton who was leading the attack.

"Right," Kara muttered she zipped into the torn up lab and grabbed a comm from Tony's briefcase so she could be patched into his personal communications to JARVIS. He kept extras in a side compartment for her in case of situations like this. She placed it in her ear and she could hear Tony and JARVIS making a plan.

"JARVIS, can I hold up any area of the haul to level the ship until someone can clear the engine, or not?" She broke into their plans as she began to move to the closest exit to the outside. "I'll be underneath trying to keep this ship level." She told Fury as she ran by him and Steve.

"Of course," JARVIS answered, "You will need to find the strongest structural point under the ship near the damaged engine. There will be structural struts for lift there that hopefully survived the explosion."

Kara stopped as Tony grabbed her arm. "This is likely a prison break. Reindeer Games was expecting them." His voice sounded grim, but with his visor down and sealed she would have had to use her x-ray vision to see the concern in his eyes.

Kara growled her agreement. "Yeah, and I left him a loophole to escape, but only as long as Barton, or another official Avenger lets him out." She knew the battle might jar the cell's emergency release too. Still the lives of the crew were more important than Loki at the moment. If need be she'd help them hunt him down afterwards.

"Just keep us from crashing in a fiery mess." He ordered with a cheerful wave as he walked out of the thin hallway back towards the lab to follow the 'widened' hallway Hulk had made.

She nodded stiffly before she flew as fast as she could through the narrow hallways until she got out on deck. Crew members who saw her coming quickly hit the deck or slammed themselves into the walls to get out of her way. She blew through a few doors, leaving twisted and pierced scrap metal behind.

She rapidly skimmed the surface of the ship to get underneath it. She hastily flew past Loki's cell and saw him with her fuzzy x-ray vision kneeling down on one knee watching the door, waiting for someone. She didn't have time to deal with that at the moment.

Scanning the area around the engine, she spent a few seconds trying with her x-ray vision to find the best spot to hold the ship up. Instead of a clear picture, the structure of the supports was a little hazy as there were several alloys with lead in them that made up parts of the outer and inner beams. She was able to find a good spot to lift the ship that wasn't likely to rip a hole in the haul. She laid herself flat and then lifted up using her whole body to spread out the load as much as possible so as to not put all the weight on a single point of the structural supports. She was only five foot eight without heels so that wasn't much, but even a little was better than a single point she'd learned over the years, if it was possible at least. Planes for example were delicate, but she often didn't have much choice in how she caught them in midair.

Ahead of her she could see the backend of the lower hanger. Through the walls she could see Hulk and Thor battling it out on the deck. As the ship rose and stabilized she saw and felt two fighter jets flyby as they skimmed the underside of the carrier. They turned and began to hover in front of the research decks at the front on the Helicarrier. Coincidentally the front hanger bay was located underneath the research decks. She watched helplessly as Hulk took out both jets. The first one by throwing something at it, knocking its wing off. The other he decided to attack up close and personally by jumping on its cockpit canopy. Even from back where she was the expression on the pilot's face was clear and terrified. He tried to shake Hulk off, but Hulk's grip was just too tight and was actually buckling the outer skin of the plane's nose cone.

She was about to drop the helicarrier to get the pilot when she saw two shoots, one from each plane. Hulk had made a grab for the pilot of the plane he'd been riding like a bull rider, but he missed as the ejection chair flashed past him too quickly for his reflexes to follow. Since both pilots were safe she let them go. From what she had seen of the Hulk, she was sure the fall wouldn't hurt him much. She guessed they had lost about ten thousand feet before she had stabilized the starboard side of the ship, leveling it out, making his drop to the ground close to twenty thousand feet. Hulk had let go of the plane and tried to use it as a platform to jump back aboard the Helicarrier, but he was too far away.

Thor began to run once Hulk fell away from the ship. She knew he'd be heading for Loki's cell, even if she could no longer see him due to her position facing forward. She didn't dare turn however. The structural integrity of the super-structure was still holding. She didn't want to test her luck with the lives of everyone onboard if she dropped the weight she was holding up to reposition herself needlessly. As if by thinking about it she'd caused a malfunction, the second starboard side second engine turned itself off. It was only the fact that Kara was holding up the Helicarrier that kept the ship from slipping sideways in a slow plummet towards the ground.

"Blue, we're trying to get the engines restarted. You got to hold on for another few minutes." Tony told her suddenly.

"I'm not straining at all Tony, but let's get this done quickly! I think Loki's about to make a break for it! I need to get back there! I can hold this for as long as you need, but I really want to get back there and try to stop him from getting away!" She called back, her words were being distorted by the wind, but JARVIS could easily account for it. "Hulk fell out of the carrier, but the two pilots are ok. Shoots opened, if you can relay that to Fury JARVIS."

"Done Ms. Zor El," JARVIS answered. "Director Fury thanks you for the information."

She tried to listen in to Tony and Steve while they fixed the engine behind her, but their conversation was scaring the hell out her. Steve's "I think it's run on a type of electricity" was nearly the last straw. The falling pieces of the engine, and Tony kick starting the first engine allowed her to let go, and she flew over to help Steve by pulling the switches for both the second engine. The second switch was of course near the second engine and she had needed to leave them him to battle the mind-controlled SHIELD agents for a few seconds to do it. As she flew back to him she knocked one of his attackers away from him, and stopped Steve from flying off the broken section into a freefall to Earth. She placed him firmly on the deck before she quickly finished the repairs.

Tony pulled out and was able to move on to fighting other combatants on the deck without too much damaged to his suit. She was about to go help them when Loki's prison suddenly fell away. She was about to chase it when she heard Coulson's voice in the bay along with Loki's where the prison had been. Kara quickly changed directions and raced in, not realizing Thor had been in the cell as it fell.

Coulson was facing towards her when she flew up into the room through the hole left by the cell. He was holding a gun that was glowing with power similar to the Destroyer. Loki had teleported and was appearing behind him with a crazed look on his face. Kara only had a split second to react. Hoping she didn't kill Coulson herself getting him out of the way, she pulled him towards her, faster than a speeding bullet. Unable to keep his feet he hit the ground hard, knocking him out cold. Her momentum put her armored body where Phil's unprotected back had been a moment before. The strange gun he'd been holding skittered across the floor coming to rest near the giant hole in the floor. Coulson laid still, blood oozing from his forehead immediately from where his head had bounced off the floor.

Loki's expression only flickered as the magical spear slid with a sickening scraping sound as the tip slid down the leather covered, heavy metal chest plate, scorning a thin line of damage along it. Where the armor plates became only hardened leather that allowed her more freedom of movement in battle, the scepter's blade penetrated her body, and it suddenly plunged forward into her abdomen. It's curved tip plunging up just under her ribcage. The curved blade stopped as it rested against her lowest rib, collapsing the lung immediately.

There was no breath to say anything. She just hung there on his blade as they both stared at the blade deeply embedded inside her body. Her vision narrowed down to only the person in front of her. The edges of her vision black and slowly closing inward. His was more pain than she could ever remember feeling in her short lifetime. It radiated outward, making her sluggish and dazed.

Loki's eyes flashed a dark blue. His face had a puzzled look as he slowly pulled the scepter backward. The dark red blood dripped ominously down the drenched blade. "This was not expected, and such a waste. You were the last of your kind, where you not?" The eyes seemed disappointed, before they hardened and looked towards the human that had been standing against him. Seeing the man down and out cold, he looked away scanning the room for any other threats.

Kara's powers began to fade and she fell to her knees beside Coulson. Her hands holding the wound as dark, thick blood began to dribble from her mouth and ooze out of her wound. The pain was beyond anything she had felt before. She fell on her side before being pushed on her back by Loki's foot. Her eyes began to close. Her vison was dimming, but she sensed his movements as Loki knelt beside her. He placed something on her chest and near the wound before she saw his shadow as he walked towards a bulkhead near her and blasted a hole in it, and then walking out the door and meeting with two men outside.

Sunlight fell on her face from the hole in the wall. Her healing powers began to kick in, but not fast enough to save her life. Coulson was beside her, he was breathing evenly as the blood continued to pool under his face. She wasn't worried about his injury, head wounds always bleed easily, and she didn't see any major injuries that the humans wouldn't be able to fix. She moved her left hand sluggishly to feel what Loki had left behind. She felt the hard smoothness of a healing stone by her hand on her chest but didn't have the presence of mind to do anything but try to turn her head to spit out as much blood as she could before it could drown her.

Tony found her first only minutes later. He flew into the room and found her and Coulson down. Calling it in and rushing to her. Kara could tell he was trying to see how bad the damage was. Finding the healing stone he spoke words she couldn't hear because of the roaring of blood and wind in her ears. The pain was so consuming. And then suddenly it wasn't. Tony knew and had understood what the stone was. He'd crushed it using the strength of the suit, and spread the dust into her wound to heal her.

She could feel the rush of healing seiðr flowing through her from the healing stone Tony had placed in the laceration. The magic closed it and managed to heal most of the damage, enough that she could finally take a deep breath and cough out the blood gathered in her airways. She spat it out on the deck as she rolled on her side. Harsh coughs hurt but they helped to clear even more of her airway. The effort left her gasping for air.

"Blue, I am so glad you're alright." Tony told her gratefully as he cuddled her to his chest, and pulling her closer to the sunlight so more of it fell on her torso. She rested her head on his armored shoulder for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. It hurt so much to breathe, but it hurt to hold her breath too. The pain was still so consuming, she was shocked by how much the wound _hurt_.

It took several minutes before she could feel her strength returning. "Damn scepter is extremely magical in nature." She gasped quietly to him, "Too powerful." She tried to warn him of the power in the weapon. She'd handled magical weapons before, but the level of power in this one was easily twice as strong as Gungnir, or even Mjölnir. Both those weapons were semi-sentient; judging those worthy of the right to weld them. She didn't even want to think of the level of intelligence and sentience the scepter needed to be that powerful. Was the presence the scepter itself, or was someone possessing it? Whatever it was, it had felt evil. It was almost as if it had its own soul. Her body shook with abundant pain and revulsion.

Tony shushed her as he pulled her even closer to the opening to allow more sunlight to fall on her body. "Save your strength, we are going to need to go after Loki once we have regrouped. We lost Thor and Hulk during the battle. Everyone else is still regrouping but they've checked in."

"He didn't do it." She gasped as more healing inside her body shifted her organs and her lung began to re-inflate.

"He stabbed you." Tony growled protectively. "If he can try and kill _you_ , then there is nothing he won't do Blue."

"Wasn't trying to stab me," She told him as sternly as she could, but she was still a breathless with agonizing pain. "Left the stone to heal me… and blow the hole… to cause the sunlight… to heal me." She gasped out between pain filled breaths. "It stopped me… from dying… until you could heal me… with the stone."

Tony looked at her in pain and wanted to destroy something. Agents were arriving now, medics were going to Coulson first. Tony stayed with Kara near the hole in the wall as they moved Phil onto a stretcher and took him to the med bay.

"Did you need us to help you Supergirl?" One of the medics asked hesitantly, his eyes were wide with concern and fear. Every SHIELD operative knew she couldn't be hurt, yet here she was, looking like she was on death's door. There was blood on the floor that showed Ironman had dragged her away from Coulson. There was more blood was still pooled on her abdomen, and looked like more was dripping from her fingers onto his suit. The medic was almost in a full panic. That color of the blood in a human would be considered a fatal wound; deep dark, almost black blood from the organ damage, and bright red on her lips from the oxygen rich blood coughed up from the lungs. As she was alien he was uncertain how to treat her, but if her systems were anything like a human's she was badly hurt. He didn't even know if her organs were in the same place, as a human.

Kara shook her head slowly. "I have already seen to her." Tony told them sternly. "We will leave shortly. She's just catching her breath." The other agents began to gather the scattered garbage from the medic's efforts to patch Coulson for transporting him to the med bay, but a few headed for the puddle of blood left by Kara on the floor. Kara used what little power she had regained and fired her heat vision at the puddle, vaporizing it.

"No samples." She snarled viciously at the agents who had approached it. The agents wisely backed away quickly, two looking ashamed while one looked quite angry at being thwarted by the alien.

She turned her head to Tony. "I need to fly… Can you destroy those panels… and make sure they get none of my blood?" She would have begged but she knew she could count on him to be as protective of her DNA as she was.

"Yeah, no samples for Fury and his dickhead techies," Tony promised as he helped her to her feet. "Are you sure you'll be alright Blue? I've never seen you get hurt like this." His concern was written all over his face and his protective stance, crowding close to her since he wasn't tall enough to loom over her.

Kara gave him a guilty look but nodded. She knew he would worry the whole time she was out of his sight. "I'll be back in about fifteen minutes." Kara faded her Supergirl armor off and she stood in black boy shorts and sports bra. "I just need a sunbath." She whispered to him. Without the armor the wound was fresh and looked like a thick, puffy, purple looking scar that was barely closed. Even the healing stones had limits, a half hour in the sun and she would be nearly back to full power, though her abdomen would still be tender until she could get under the healing rays of a Soul Forge.

Before Tony could object more Kara dived out the hole left by Loki and circled under the Helicarrier and then rocketed up above the clouds. She was so high up that the Helicarrier was only a speck against the water of the Atlantic Ocean. The cold was nearly overwhelming even for her. She needed as much direct sunlight as possible so she was near the edge of the mesosphere, the highest she could go for any length of time and still breathe. She laid herself out so she could absorb as much sunlight as possible. With that much skin exposed to the mostly unfiltered sunlight, her healing factor kicked into overdrive. This was something she had only done after regaining her powers of flight after burning out her powers twice in the past year. Both times satellites had caught pictures of her laid out absorbing sunlight. No one had any idea what she had been doing then, but SHIELD would have an idea now. Not that they had planes that could operate at this height. Anything they had to reach this high was passing through on its way to space.

By the time she touched back down on the Helicarrier forty-five minutes later, her powers had fully returned, and she was in her full battle armor. The hole in her abdomen was scarred over as if it was an old wound too. It would take a bit of time in the Soul Forge to remove the magical scar, but looking at it now, a human would have thought it was a year old, not less than an hour.

"Where are you, Tony?" Kara asked into her comm as she approached the Helicarrier deck with a determined stride.

"We're all in the conference room Blue. Welcome back." He answered morosely. His tone startled her. When she left she knew things had not been good, but she hadn't thought anything worse than Loki escaping had occurred.

"What's happened?" She asked with a touch a fear as she stopped on the Carrier deck, the door to the lower levels was only twenty feet away.

"Coulson's dead."

Kara's legs dropped her. The clash of her armor hitting the deck sent a minor tremor through the plating and the ring of metal on metal clang loudly like a church bell. All over the deck personnel began to run towards the fallen hero as she made no effort to stand. Chatter filled the comms of everyone around her. Several people ran forward to try to help her to stand but she wasn't moved. They tried to pick her up again and still didn't do more than shift her.

"Blue, you still there?" Tony's voice sounded far away but Kara nodded slowly, not that he could see her. The shock of hearing about Coulson filled her with a cold numbness that the atmosphere hadn't been able to create.

"I killed an innocent." She whispered as a purely cold emptiness began to spread out from her. SHIELD agents around her began to drop to the desk in despair, falling into depressed puddles, unable to pick themselves off the ground. "I'm an Oathbreaker." She breathed in anguish. Death of innocent, the words rushed into her mind as the cold she was still feeling feed memories of her fear, helplessness and grief she felt in the pod as the wave of destruction had passed over her. The death of thousands of innocents, the shockwave as it hit the pods. The souls of those thousands of innocents rushing to Rao's light. The image of that moment swept through her.

Her eyes blew wide open as she took what that meant to her. Inside she felt an emptiness that she had not felt in a long time. It was like the cold of space that had surrounded her in that vast empty, absolutely silent pod in the darkness. A full flashback was blooming behind her eyes. All around her more agents and crew members of the helicarrier fell to their knees as her hopelessness rolled off her skin, invisible but debilitating.

"Blue! Blue!" Tony called out suddenly. "It was an accident, Blue! You didn't mean to."

Brainiac's voice came across the comm. "Agent Coulson's death was not you're doing, Zor El." Kara looked up with tears of grief drying quickly by the wind on the deck. The flashback of her journey in the pod was broken by Tony's voice in her ear, and backed by Brainiac's assertive voice. The salt crusted quickly in her eyes blurring her vision.

"How did he die?" She whispered as she frantically grabbed onto the situation in the present, rather than falling back into the past again. Brainiac was programed to not lie to her. She knew that he could color the truth, or choose not to answer her, but he could not openly lie to her. He was like talking to Thor most of the time, open and honest. Every so often she would ask a restricted question and he would either shut her down, or start playing with the truth the way Loki would. She could usually see it easily when he did since like Thor he was a bad liar, which was a great thing in an AI as far and Kara and Tony were concerned. She had finally seen the movie with HAL that Tony had mentioned to Barry Allen and she was serious about making sure her Brainiac never had that much innovative intelligence.

"He was treated by drugs that did not react well with his system." Brainiac informed her. "SHIELD treated his injuries incorrectly." His voice was scornful and was more than a little put out sounding, JARVIS's influence. "It was not your fault."

Tony and Steve both came crashing out the deck door and ran over to her. "Blue! What the hell is going on!" He'd heard Brainiac and couldn't understand why Fury had made it sound as if Loki had killed the Agent. His little pep talk about Coulson believing in the Avengers had been a masterful speech. Tony had been falling for it, until Kara had fallen, and SHIELD agents all over the deck had started freaking out.

"Supergirl?" Steve called out trying to figure out what was happening to the agents around her. The wave of cold, and an unnatural despair had penetrated even his level of energy. As quickly as he began to feel weakened by the invisible cloud of hopelessness, it disappeared. The agents around them seemed to be able to move once more. Strength returned to his limbs and he took another step closer to her.

"What the hell just happened here? Who released the dementors?" Tony called out as he stood straight in his armor. Unlike everyone else he was the only one on his feet, but that was only because he couldn't drop to his knees in his armor due to things like muscle fatigue. The cloud of despair seemed to mimic that effect, and the suit had refused to drop him, keeping him on his feet by locking the joints.

Between Rogers and Tony they both helped Kara back to her feet. She looked around at the agents around her who were backing away carefully, looking somewhat frightened or wary of her.

"I don't know." Kara answered, her voice wavered with uncertainly. "That's never happened before." The wave of despair had come from her, she knew that for certain. She had no idea how it had affected everyone around her though. She hadn't had a flashback like that since she has fourteen.

Tony grabbed her arms and gave her a good shake. "You are not an Oathbreaker." He told her sternly as he stared firmly into her eyes, his anger with the situation leaking into his voice, "Even if you had accidently killed him… that does not make you an Oathbreaker." He reminded her. "You were defending him."

"I vowed never to kill an innocent." She argued shaking her head to dispel the image of cold darkness that was trying to return. Once more she was focusing heavily on the oath rather than the endless darkness of the Void. BY focusing on Coulson's death rather than the Void she could function. She'd explain to Tony later that the he was right about the Oath being intent based. If she had thrown Coulson to the ground, not caring if he was hurt then she would have broken her Oath.

Tony shook her again, forcing her to look at him. "You vowed never to kill an innocent intentionally. It's not the same thing. You tried to save him and got stabbed yourself. It's not like you could have helped him once you were hurt." He argued back.

Kara had explained the importance of honor and oaths among the Asgardians. Becoming an Oathbreaker was one of the highest crimes as a warrior could commit. Technicalities were usually enough of an excuse for breaking an oath. Only death or disability excused not upholding an oath intentionally. Once Kara had been stabbed she could no longer be held accountable if Coulson had died by her intentional actions. Arguably the wording of her oath likely allowed for death as long as it wasn't her intent. Tony would be willing to argue the point until he was dead that intent was the spirit of the oath. Right now Kara was willing to let him because right now his voice was pushing it all away, leaving her chest warm and full, rather than cold and empty.

The point of the oath was to say she was Midgard's protector, as such she protected innocents. In battle however there was always collateral damage. She had taught him that for God's sake. He wasn't about to let her forget that, not now especially when they were about to go into a battle where collateral damage was likely a guarantee.

He was guessing she was reacting to the death being a result of her actually trying and failing to save Coulson, rather than her truly believing she had broken her oath. Kara was such a contradiction sometimes. She was a warrior, but she was a girl. She was a warm, loving person, who had killed people in cold-blood on a battlefield. She hadn't had to deal with much failure and Tony knew that he'd have to help her deal with that part the same way she had helped him learn about being a real warrior.

Kara finally let the words he was saying penetrate into her mind and nodded to his logic as the image of cold space finally began to fade back into her memories. She'd have to explain to Tony what was really happening later. Panic attacks such as this one had not happened in quite some time.

As much as it emotionally hurt to have had a hand in Coulson's death, she wasn't the cause and that soothed that concern almost instantly. The being controlling Loki had stabbed her, and had caused her to have to move Coulson in the manner she had. Knowing that SHIELD was directly responsible for the actual cause of death did help her to regain her equilibrium on that score.

The cold despair had started with the thought she had broken that oath, but then something else had overcome it and then the flashback had taken hold; floating alone in the cold, silent, darkness of space. It had been a mistake to go so high, and so close to the mesosphere. She'd managed to get too cold, and too close to the darkness of space. She'd been there long enough for it to trigger that memory. The shock of Coulson's death had been the final straw that sent her towards that memory, the one she had thought she'd locked away for good.

She repeated to herself several times _. I didn't kill him. I didn't kill him. I didn't kill him._ It took her a few deep breaths before she could open her eyes. That mantra helped to push the memory back into its box. She mentally locked it down and calmed herself with a few deep cleansing breaths. When she finished and opened her eyes Tony still had her shoulders, but Steve was there with a sincere concerned look on his face, looking over Tony's shoulder.

"Ma'am, for what it's worth, Coulson wouldn't want you to feel responsible for his death." Steve told her with a sad, but kind voice as they guided her forward and entered the flight deck hatch to the inside of the Carrier. "He cared a great deal about you. He wouldn't want you to feel responsible for what happened. You tried to save him. Believe me I know there is no worse feeling than trying and failing to save those who matter to you. It doesn't make the pain less I know. Just know that none of us hold you responsible, and I don't think he would want you to hold yourself accountable either." Steve's expression clouded over with remembered pain and loss.

Kara gave Rogers a small nod of her head with an empathetic smile. "Who did you lose?" She whispered, Tony looked sharply over at Cap and Kara, he was listening but not commenting since Rogers was getting through to her better than he was. His face twisted a little with jealousy, but he pushed it down, knowing that Kara loved him as much as he loved her. She was his partner in the hero business, not Cap's. Roger's wouldn't ever take her away from him, unlike his old man, who always put him above his own son.

Steve looked sad as he remembered his friend. "His name was Bucky, he was my brother in every way but blood. We always used to say we were brothers from different mothers." He told her with a small lift of his mouth. "Bravest and most honorable guy I ever knew." Kara remembered the story now. It had been in Peggy Carter's journals. Steve had been there, reaching out for him, and he had seen Bucky Barnes fall to his death.

Kara looked down to hide any trace of pity she might be feeling for the lonely soldier. "I liked Coulson. He was the most honorable man I've met in SHIELD."

"I hope I was a close second," a voice from the other side of the small room they were standing in called out, drawing her attention to him.

Kara looked up and saw Hawkeye standing there. He looked a little worse for wear, but his eyes were clear and light blue once more instead of the deep intense blue of the mind-control spell. He was giving her a concerned but blank look. Kara's face lit up and around her the room seemed to brighten just a little. Steve who had been in direct physical contact with her felt a wave of relief and hope surge through him as she launched herself across the room to hug the SHIELD archer. It left him a little unbalanced but he suddenly felt better about their chances.

"Hawkeye!" She hugged him as tight as she dared to. "You're safe! Thank Rao! I was so worried about you. Are you ok now? No side-effects or anything? You aren't dizzy, or anything are you?" she asked him in quick succession.

He gave her a small chuckle as he hugged her back. "I am fine now. I promise." His face relaxed just a little more. Each time he saw her, he felt more and more fatherly towards the young woman. Only Natasha knew of his family, and so only she could understand why his thoughts and feelings often went out to Supergirl in a fatherly way. Her blonde hair was the same shade as his daughter's, and her blue shining eyes often called to mind his young son.

She pulled back just a little so she could look him over before she hugged him again. "I just can't believe it. How did you break the spell?" She asked as she released him again and took a small step back but didn't remove her hands from his shoulders.

"Cognitive Recalibration," Replied Black Widow from behind Hawkeye. She moved into Kara's personal space, forcing her to step away from Hawkeye. Steve and Tony shared an amused smile at the possessiveness of the two girls over the man who was arguably the First Avenger. While Cap might have been the first superhero, Clint was the first member of the team chosen.

When Fury had first started to design the team they hadn't found Steve Rogers body yet, nor had Tony made his first suit. Barton's name was always first on the list of possible Avengers, even before Black Widow. She was actually only on the team because she didn't work well with many people so they were a package deal. There had been others that were looked into. Pym had been researched and it was decided to not even approach the older man. He was still on the outs with almost everyone whom he had ever worked with. It was a shame because the work between Pym and Stark would have been amazing to see if they could avoid their egos crashing into each other. Fury didn't think it was likely so Pym was quietly considered, and discarded.

"So what's our next move?" Steve asked them now that they were all together. With Bruce and Thor MIA, they were all that was left. That left Supergirl as the only 'heavy hitter' they had. Tony's suit wasn't designed to take on an all-out alien invasion, though it wouldn't surprise anyone he had one waiting at Stark Tower that could. Hawkeye, Widow and Cap were all ground and infiltration forces, with some 'superhuman' capabilities. They were certainly not the greatest front line defense against an alien army. The Avengers had originally been a human defense force to work for SHIELD and do things regular SHIELD agents couldn't. It was only with learning about Kara and Thor that they had added Alien Invasion Protection to the Avengers mandate.

"Brainiac do you have anything for us?" Kara asked through her comm.

"Yes actually." Brainaic's voice came through the room's PA system so the whole group could hear the results. "Just before the engine was shot out we had located the Tesseract." Brainiac told them. "It is located on Stark Tower. They have tapped into the Arc Reactor to run the device."

"Son of a Bitch!" Tony growled. "That god damn diva stole my Tower! If they do this they'll drain the Arc Reactor! It was supposed to run for a whole year!"

"Better your Arc Reactor than my Omegahedron." Kara reminded him sadly.

Tony glared at her. "You do realize my Tower is Ground Zero for an Alien Invasion right now? Pepper is going to be pissed. We just finished that, it was our baby!" He growled with annoyance.

"She'll get over it when she gets more than twelve percent credit for the new one." Kara sassed back. Tony gasped and sputtered while the others got ready, as they tried to hide their smirks at their banter.

Rogers cleared his throat, "We're going to need a pilot and a ship to get us to New York." he reminded them seriously, "And a plan, more than just 'attack'." He added, looking sternly at Stark.

"I got the flying part covered." Hawkeye told him. He liked Steve, his take charge attitude was what they needed right then. "Between Natasha and me we can fly, and man the guns of any of the Quinjets on deck, plus they are always fully armed and fueled so we don't need to worry about armaments. That's the best gunship SHUELD has on the Helicarrier, and it can also carry extra passengers."

Steve flushed as he remembered that Natasha had piloted to and from Stuttgart. He was still getting used to the fact that women were in all combat roles now, instead of only a rare woman being in the corps at all. Strictly speaking Peggy wasn't actually a member of the Army combat forces during WWII. She had thrown herself into the fight as often as possible. In reality her position had officially been a secretary for Col. Phillips, and that was a cover for her British Secret Agent status.

"Alright we'll need to suit up if we are going to go to New York and fight these things." Steve told them. "Meet back here in five."

"I'm ready now." Tony told them. "I want to switch out suits anyway. My Mark VII is more heavily armed and armored than this one. Plus this one is a little on the worn out side. I'll see if I can delay the Invasion while I do it." He turned to Kara. "It might be best if you stayed with the others so he doesn't see you back on your feet before we go head-to-head. We don't want him using his glow stick of destiny on you."

Kara sighed but agreed as her wound twitched at the thought of facing Loki alone again while he was still under the control of the menacing supervisor in the scepter. "I could use a few more minutes on deck. I'll be waiting just outside the door for the rest of you."

She walked away and added her full array of battle weapons to her armor making it possible for her to grab her sword from her back, and she attach the magical buckler to her gauntlet. In battle she could activate it and it would expand and cover her arm if she needed it. She tended to keep it closed since it did create drag when she flew. The battle armor was made of heavier metal than her everyday armor, and had additional plates that covered her back. It also had a golden gorget to protect her neck, and shoulder armor with a deflection plate over her shield arm.

Steve nodded as he took in all the needs of the others. "Sounds like a plan, just be careful Stark." His tone was one of concern so Tony didn't take the words personally. "I'll just get my shield and uniform." He told the rest of them.

"We'll be back in a few with our weapons." Hawkeye agreed, Widow nodded and left out the same door without a word.

Tony took off with one last wave to Kara before he flew off to switch out his armor at his Tower.

"Good luck Tony." She whispered into the wind as she watched him fly off.


	5. Battle of New York

SoA- Part 3

Chapter 5

Battle of New York

At the five minute mark, in full regatta; Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye joined a fully armored and ready Supergirl on the deck of the Helicarrier. As a unit they re-assembled just outside the door and marched then with silent determination towards the closest, fully armed Quinjet.

Those few on the deck were quick to step out of the way, or stopped at watch the spectacle. The locked and determined jaw of Steve Rogers with his cowl down, flanked by Supergirl in full armor with her cape bellowing behind her in the wind, The Black Widow with her warrior face on with her weapons active, and Hawkeye, the deadliest man in SHIELD with his bow in hand, was a sight to see. Anyone who came close could almost feel the waves of strength and determination flowing off the small group of Avengers. Kara noticed the awe and made a note to how effective the image was for later.

Even the crew that was manning the Quinjet itself stepped out of the way when Steve kindly told them to stand aside. His words of "Son, just don't", was said with such disappointment that the man he had uttered those words to looked as if Steve had just kicked him in the stomach as he backed down. Everyone else had shuffled out of their way in a type of reverence.

The others boarded the Quinjet, and Kara flew beside them as they left the deck. She heard the flight crews calling in the unauthorized take-off but no one scrambled any jets to come after them. Instead several men and women stood cheering and pumping their fists in the air as they flew past them towards New York.

Kara began to fly ahead of the Quinjet and kept her sight focused towards the city. She was too concerned about Tony to feel comfortable staying back with the others. The Quinjet wasn't as fast as she'd thought, going only Mach two point one at its max speed, Hawkeye wasn't holding back. He'd chosen this version of the Quinjet because it had heavier armor and more firepower than the one faster prototype version that had been there for Fury to inspect. It would be the newer version set to be produced soon.

She'd hoped to be there only minutes after Tony arrived. They'd be almost ten to twelve minutes behind him at this rate. That was too much time. Tony was sure to get into trouble without her there to watch his back.

"Hawk, I'm going to fly ahead and try to catch up to Tony in case he needs me. I'll stay out of sight, but I want to be close enough to intervene if I need to." She told him via her comm unit.

"Ok, Zor El." Hawkeye's voice came back. "Try to stay unseen until you're needed. We don't want Loki to target you. You're the last heavy we got in this fight. We're fucked without you to take out the bigger ships that are going to be coming." He reminded her as casually as he could. She smiled at the hidden concern.

"I'll stay at the city edge unless I'm needed." She promised him as she shot forward at over Mach four. Her shockwave bounced the Quinjet a little as they flew through her jet wash.

As she flew ahead she asked Brainiac for an update. "Do you have any idea where Thor disappeared to?"

"There was a large sudden storm off to the north twelve minutes ago." It updated her. "It was large, localized and sudden; all fitting with the parameters of storms produced by Thor. I believe it is also approximately where the cell Loki was being kept in would have landed."

Kara took that in. _Huh, that must be what happened to him_ , she thought. "That would be him." She muttered half to herself. "He's not much for subtle is he? So he'll be close enough that when the Portal opens that he'll see it." She confirmed to herself. She still wondered what Thor had been doing in the cell. That was something to ask him about later.

"It is likely he will see the new portal when it opens from that distance if he doesn't close in on the location of either you or Loki before then." Brainiac confirmed. "My calculations suggest that the amount of Dark Energy that will be released when the portal opens will be detectable by Asgardian physiology. Much like the godly auras you all produce." Kara nodded absently. She knew that, it was how she had known Thor was mortal when he had first landed on Midgard over a year ago. His aura was missing. It was also how if she was nearby she could feel the Bifröst opening while on Midgard.

Kara flew to the edge of Manhattan and began scanning Stark Tower for the Tesseract using her x-ray vision to see through the buildings. She was trying to stay out of sight as she looked for the cube. It wasn't hard to locate. Selvig was on the roof, as she had assumed he would be. It was the only place he could tap into the power and have room to open a huge portal into deep space to let the alien's through. She honed her hearing in to listen to Loki and Tony as they spoke to one another in the penthouse as she tried to see what it was that Selvig had done. She winced when Tony had insulted Loki's manhood and almost missed his exit from the Tower, sans armor.

Kara's heart nearly stopped when she saw Tony falling after his explosive exit through what was supposed to be unbreakable bulletproof glass. She moved to intercept him, but his armor began to assemble around him. She landed under where she expected him to crash if he didn't get his suit on fast enough. As such nearby civilians were alerted to the problem and quickly scrambled out of the way.

Tony's hands coming down and blasting the replusors directly at her had her crouching, facing down. She felt the energy pound into her back against her cape. It didn't hurt, but Tony yelped in fear and concern.

"Blue, damn are you ok?" He asked quickly as he hovered a little above her.

"Just fine," She told him after taking a harsh breath. She hadn't realized she'd been holding it as she watched Tony fall. "Don't scare me like that again." She scolded him with a death glare.

"Blame Reindeer Games," He told her as he flew up to re-enter the suite. Once there he blasted Loki out of the back of the apartment. Kara streaked by him as she went up to try and stop Selvig while Loki was distracted.

"Doctor Selvig, step away from the device please." Kara called out to him as she hovered in front of the clearly deranged man. He looked up at her. His eyes were the same deep, dark blue she remembered seeing in Loki's eyes on the Helicarrier, just before he'd stabbed her. They held a touch of the insanity of someone who was completely unhinged. The color and look made her wince, and her scar twitch with associated pain.

"She is almost ready." He crowed with excitement. "She's going to show us a whole new beginning; a whole new universe of opportunities!" Selvig continued to joyously cry out, his elation borne of madness.

Kara blasted the device with a shot from her heat vision. It rebounded off a suddenly glowing blue shield that sprung up around the device, directly at her. The beam was only a quick flash so it only knocked her backwards a few feet, more out of surprise than actual damage. Her recent injury gave a flicker of pain and she was quick to cradle the area with her forearm.

"Don't make her angry." Selvig warned her with slightly narrowed eyes as he turned his eyes away from the device to look at her. His demeanor and frown were deeply disapproving. He raised his finger almost shaking it at her. "You will see her great gift soon." He turned his full attention back to the device, like it was an idol of his devout faith to be worshiped and prayed to.

Kara ignored him. She moved closer and blew her icy cold breath across the shield. It solidified on the surface, but didn't penetrate the shield. Selvig screamed and backed away from the sudden cold, his fingers instantly dark red and blue from near frostbite when he had moved closer to protect the device and tried to touch the ice forming over the shield. His shock breaking some of the hold of the mind controlling spell had on his thoughts. The entity controlling him must have felt his worth had ended, because it did not try to reassert control of the man. He fell backwards against the wall of the roof access and slowly slid down it, staring at his damaged flesh.

She scanned the device with her x-ray vision and surrounding area. She could see the power cords were also protected by the shield. The lines were actually shielded all the way down the inside of the building and into floor below the penthouse where the Arc Reactor itself was hidden inside Stark Tower. That meant she couldn't just cut the power to the thing at a simple vulnerable junction between the device and the power source. From the sound of the power coursing through the device she wouldn't have time to find another way to shut it down.

"Tony the thing is shielded and drawing power through a shielded cord down into the reactor on the Seventy-fifth floor. I can't cut the power, nor destroy the device." She informed the group through the comms.

"Yeah I know." Tony called back. "I saw that. Heat and cold both a no go, we'll have to find something else." He grunted as he flew a tight turn and changed direction coming back toward Stark Tower.

Kara knew the Quinjet was still a ways out, and Thor was still MIA, but the storm Brainiac had seen developing in Connecticut meant he wasn't far away. Looking down she could see Loki was overseeing New York from the roof, as Tony moved down to regroup with her. "I will keep him distracted until everyone else can get here."

At that moment the air was filled with a loud crack and a blue light lit up the sky before blacking out as a huge hole in the sky opened. Around the edges were lined with blue, ropey light. Unlike the breaches Kara had seen before, this one was less like boiling water and round. It was more like slow moving lightening. Kara used her eyesight to look into the Void behind the event horizon that opened looking straight down towards the street. As she looked her heart-rate quickened with fear.

"There are hundreds… thousands of them." She breathed into the comm, alerting all the Avengers at the size of the problem.

As she stared the first of the Blue Whale sized ships began to 'swim' towards the opening, surrounded by over a hundred of little sled-like ships. The size of the hole made getting a good look at the other ships difficult, but the whole event horizon was filled with ships. The first wave at least only seemed to be the sled like ships.

"At least we have a bottle-neck on the army coming through." Tony assessed for the incoming Avengers. "The portal isn't as large as we calculated. JARVIS figures it's double the width of Park Avenue, approximately 420 feet."

"Keep us updated and we'll make a battle plan." Steve ordered into the comm. Kara who was unused to taking orders nearly ignored the man, but Tony grabbed her arm and pulled her back so she looked at him.

"Let's blow the first wave, and then we'll go meet up." Tony told her. "I will record the fight so we can get an idea what we are dealing with."

Kara nodded and flew back up with Tony leading and heading for the breach in the sky. Between Tony's impressive arsenal of weapons and Kara's quick work in picking off the sleds nearly half the forces that initially attacked were annulated immediately, falling to their deaths as they hit the ground at terminal velocity. It helped that the portal opening was directed towards the ground. So the sleds were already pointed straight down when they began to take them out. They broke apart as they exploded, but the destruction was limited to the area in front of Grand Central Station and Stark Tower.

Civilians began to stream from the buildings around the portal and run for the subway stations and away from the raining metal and body parts of the alien invaders as they fell.

While they were trying to clear the skies Loki was watching from the overhead balcony as the other Avengers finally arrived on scene. Hawkeye and Widow tried to fire on him, but only managed to get the Quinjet blown out of the sky when Loki fired a magical bolt of energy from the scepter. Kara hadn't known he could channel his own spells through it and was momentarily distracted, letting one of the alien sleds fire on her, causing her to hit the ground with force. She quickly got back up to assist the Quinjet in its landing, trying to minimize the damage, helping them land just outside Grand Central Station, next to Stark Tower, surrounded by the debris from the fallen sleds and Chitauri bodies that lay crushed by their fall onto the concrete.

About then Thor arrived and began to fight Loki one-on-one on top of Stark Tower. With a quick glance she could see they weren't truly fighting, or at least not trying to kill each other. Thor was trying to talk sense into Loki. Loki was holding back. He was using only the scepter against Thor, no seiðr, which meant he wasn't trying to win their little spar. She felt safe enough to leave them to their arguing at the moment.

Kara had just gotten to the back of the Quinjet as Cap lowered the back door when an unholy scream filled the air. The group looked up as they stood together to assess the situation. Looking back towards the hole in the sky Kara saw one of the large Whales 'swim out' of the downward facing opening, and make a sharp turn so it could swim properly along the street, heading up Park Avenue towards Central Park.

As the whale swam through the air, down the street away from them, they all took a moment to stare unbelieving at the sight. As it moved along the street, from its side, foot soldiers ejected themselves onto the sides of the buildings and onto the street below. Bellowing War Cries from their perches on the side of the buildings, the air rang with their challenge. Kara landed beside the other and began firing her Heat Vision as fast as she could, keeping pace with Hawkeye's firing of arrows at the creatures as they attempted to surround them.

"We need to get the civilians out of these buildings." Steve cried out as he retrieved his shield and kicked one of the creatures away from his side.

Kara did a quick scan with her x-ray vision. "Underground in the subway system is the only way to get them out safely. Most of the buildings had deep basements but I don't really think that is a great idea with these things being so big."

She didn't need to say anymore as the Whale that was now two blocks overdid a quick turn but it's pectoral fin sliced through the brick and glass of a building as it didn't quite make the turn sharp enough, not that it seemed to bother the whale in question. Tony was firing on it but his weapons didn't seem to be doing enough damage to its outer armor. Thor and Loki disengaged each other with Loki rolling over the edge of the building and landing on a sled. Thor looked on, shook his head before jumping down to regroup with the others at the base of the Tower.

They all looked back towards where the other enemy forces began to pour out of the hole in the sky. Now that the other whale was clearing the event horizon Kara was getting a better feel for what she had seen in the Void. The ships out there had been huge! The thousands of troops that she had estimated were actually closer to be millions, and that was just the foot soldiers!

"We're going to need to make a line in the sand and try to keep them from pushing too far into the city." Steve told them as the forces seemed to pull back and try to evaluate that resistance they had encountered.

Kara looked back at the Captain. He looked ridiculous in the tight costume that had next to no armor. Widow also looked strange in her black body suit. Hawkeye at least had Kevlar armor covering his torso but his arms were bare and he was carrying arrows, and not magically reproducing arrows, just a limited amount of high-tech arrows.

She gave Thor a look of concern and he returned it with a grim look, clutching his hammer haft tighter in his fist. They were so going to lose this one. Loki's army was too big, and they had no reinforcements coming. They were completely on their own with only these under powered humans to help. Still Kara hoped somehow they would be enough.

"Has Hulk shown up yet?" Tony asked them over the comms. His voice was strangely calm, and he didn't fool Kara, his voice held a faint tremor. He was worried too.

"Not yet." Widow responded with her eerie calm voice. She at least had guns, a real and somewhat effective weapon, though like Hawkeye, limited by the amount of ammo she could carry. Steve just had a bloody shield!

"Where is your weapon?" She asked Steve, as she pulled her sword and activated her shield along with her full battle armor. Thor also had his battle gear ready.

"Right here," Steve said as he lifted his shield. He looked a little less sure of himself when Kara's eyes actually stared with disbelief at him.

"Can you use a sword?" She asked him as calmly as she was able. She started to draw hers to give him, but rethought it half a second later. As strong as Captain America was, he was no match for a sword forged on Asgard for an Asgardian warrior.

"Ah no, not really." He admitted as he looked over at the battle ready Princess.

Kara just turned away without comment as she dropped the sword back into its sheath. Looking behind Steve she noticed a figure coming closer. It was Banner arriving on a motorcycle. "Banner is here Tony." She told him as the man rolled to a stop beside them.

"Great I'm bringing the party to you. Better suit up the Big Guy. Big brother is on my tail along with his frat boys." Tony called excitedly. Kara wanted to groan. Tony got extra sarcastic when the odds were against them. His comment meant that even with Hulk, he still doubted we'd pull this off. Not that he was going to stop trying. That's what made him the hero he was becoming; he never stopped trying. It was something the rest of the Avengers seemed to share.

Tony circled around a skyscraper bringing the whale directly towards the Avengers. Banner stood beside Kara looking up in disbelief. Widow was muttering about that not being a party she wanted to attend or something while Kara face palmed before growling deeply, pulling her rage forward to add extra power to her Heat Vision.

"Now might be a good time to get angry Dr. Banner." Steve had suggested. Kara snorted but kept her glowing, red eyes on the Whale.

"That's my secret, I'm always angry." Banner had replied.

As he ran forward towards the Whale which was now acting like it intended to scoop down and eat the lot of them, Kara matched him step for step. With each step Banner grew and turned into the large green troll-like creature that she had seen on the Helicarrier. She let him get ahead of her to smash his fist into the teeth of the Whale as she jumped up and carved a red line of heat and destruction down its spine, splitting it in two. Inside it was a mix of machine and biomass. Along its outer edges the spaces where the shock troops had been recessed during space travel lay empty.

Above them in the skies, the sleds continued to rain out of the portal, and a growing number of explosions were now pushing their way down the street away from the Tower, raining destruction down on the people of the city.

Kara kept going forward and began to fire her heat vision at the sleds passing by her in the air, making them explode, and swinging her sword as the drivers came near enough to decapitate them as they drove by. Thor was flying beside her swinging Mjölnir with wild abandon and shooting lightening at the others.

She saw Loki's sled move to regroup with the newest wave of re-enforcements coming through the opening. She took a moment to zero in on him and watched the movement of his body. As she expected his actions didn't seem to be 'battle-ready'. He was too laidback, unfocused, and blatantly calm. At least he was keeping his distance from the front lines, except when he was zipping by on the sled.

Thor and Kara moved back during this lull and regrouped with the rest of the Avengers, even Hulk followed. Looking around Kara used her x-ray vision to assess the area. Most of the civilians had evacuated the area with the help of the first responders in the area. Police had been directing people to the subways and stopping people from entering the area. They were setting up perimeters, and pulling people further away from the action.

There were of course some people holed up in their apartments, or in basements of the buildings, but at this point there was no realistic way The Avengers themselves could do more for them. As unlikely as it seemed, a great deal of the people in the surrounding buildings still hadn't even realized they were in danger.

It would be up to the human police and other first responders to do as much as they could from a distance. The majority of the people who had been on the street were now in the underground tunnels of the subway system. The transit system was running full speed trying to get people out but it would take hours to get that many people out of the downtown area.

"We are as clear of civilians as we are going to get guys." Kara warned them. Her words putting them on notice that there were too many innocent civilians in the area still, but they would be unable to help them and fight the army coming through at the same time.

"Right, we need a plan." Stark replied with his face plate down. He pulled out his extra comms. "Anyone not on board here is your chance." Thor took one and Kara quickly placed it in his ear. Rogers, Widow, and Hawkeye took them and linked into Tony's public channel, he had a private one for just him, JARVIS and Kara. Hulk just looked at Tony and snorted. Tony shrugged good-naturedly. "Whatever you want Big Guy." Hulk grinned but looked back towards the opening in the sky looking ready to keep fighting.

"OK a plan." Steve started to work it out in his mind. Kara was impressed with how quickly the soldier portion of his mind went to work. She could see in his eyes how quickly he was calculating the odds and how best to defend against them.

"Supergirl, Thor, you guys bottle up that opening if you can, lightening and heat vision seem to do a good job of taking down the whales and sleds." Steve said with authority, but not in an army commander type style. His voice was just commanding. His confidence made the orders somehow more binding then if he had issued them in a harsher tone. Kara and Thor quickly nodded.

"The large Silver building slightly south of the portal would be good for you." Kara told Thor as she pointed to the Chrysler Building. "It's a metal lightening rod basically." Thor nodded and tightened his hold on his hammer, getting ready to leave. Kara looked to the south and decided on stationing herself near 42nd and Madison to try and keep the aliens heading in a northern fashion toward the rest of the Avengers and keep them focused up Park Avenue and away from Grand Central Terminal which was right below the portal itself since it was next to Stark Tower. It still housed too many civilians waiting to escape on the trains, and subway system.

"Stark, you round up anything getting through and try to turn them back before they get to 57th." Cap again ordered with confidence that the rest of them were beginning to feel. Tony for once didn't refuse, he just nodded his acceptance. "Police are trying to keep people out from that point on." He told them. Kara's belief in Steve grew another minor degree.

"Hawkeye we need an eye in the sky." Captain said looking at him expectantly.

"I know a place." Hawkeye turned to Kara. "Can you place me on the top of that building?" He asked pointing to the highest building within shooting distance of the group standing in the middle of Park Avenue near 50th street. It was an office building but it was also the highest building nearby, next to St Bath's church.

Kara nodded with military precision. "Not a problem." It was a great spot for him. He'd be able to see all around them for blocks, and he would be able to shoot at anything coming down the street.

"Widow you're with me, we'll try and hold what ground forces we can here with Hawkeyes' help." Steve told her without looking.

Widow acknowledge him with a soft, "Affirmative" as her eyes never stopped scanning around them for enemy movement.

He turned and looked straight at Hulk. "And Hulk." The big green giant turned and looked at him with a slightly annoyed look. Steve just gave him a somewhat sinister smiled for Captain America. It was good they weren't being recorded up close, Steve's reputation would never recover. "Smash." He ordered with a stern gleam but wider smile as he pointed to the whales still swimming around in the air.

Hulk actually smiled back, almost as sinisterly as he grunted an approval before he jumped up into the sky and grabbed the side of a building pulling himself up to be ready to attack as the enemy forces began to regroup in front of the portal.

Kara moved behind Hawkeye and hugged him firmly from behind before rising quickly to place him on the tower. She made sure he was firmly footed before she let him go. He took a step back and turned.

"Thanks for the lift." He gave him one of his easy smiles before his face blanked and he began to focus.

"Anytime Hawk." She smiled at him before she zipped to her station and began to call up her reserves.

The skies darkened as Thor called on the lightening to begin firing on the Whales and sleds as they began to come through the portal. Kara took her time and only fired quick bursts of heat vision at the Whale heads. She cut the jaws off of the first one making the thing go insane with pain as it came through. The thrashing took out several of his own flyers, and when it crashed onto the street it crushed a good portion of the foot soldiers on one side that had yet to launch from the side pouches where they were situated.

She knew she would need to conserve her power while Thor was calling lightening due to the thick clouds. It would stop her powers from recharging as fast as she used her reserves. She also knew he couldn't keep that up for long. His call to battle would make him forget his post. She wouldn't even be able to call him back because she had heard his comm explode as he called up the first flashes of lightening.

Loki was back in the sky and he was leading a charge down Park Avenue towards the other Avengers. She didn't see the arrow that Hawkeye fired at Loki, but she saw him falling from a different sled onto the penthouse balcony of Stark Tower. Thor of course chose that moment to stop firing at the portal, and three whales came through moments later. Kara was able to kill another one but the other two got by.

Tony was doing great dealing with only the sleds that had gotten by, or escaped the downed Whales until now. She wasn't sure of how Cap, Hawkeye, and Widow would deal with anything that big. With the exception of Hulk, who could handle the large monstrosities, she worried the others might get in serious trouble now that Thor had left killing all the whales to her.

Thor didn't actually go after Loki as she thought he would, instead he seemed to team up with Hulk and start trying to go after the Whales together. They were quick to take down one, ending up inside Grand Central Station.

Tony pulled a scary move and was lucky to survive going down the Whale's throat. His weapons system blew the thing apart from the inside out, Kara was unsure how Tony survived the internal concussions from the blasts but was proud to see the whale crash through a wave of sleds on its way down, crushing a large number of Chitauri under its bulk.

Kara was still hard at work shooting at the sleds as they continued to rain down on the city. The whales seemed to be stalled on the other side for the moment. Only waves of the smaller crafts were coming through.

From her vantage point to the side of the Portal, Kara couldn't see inside to Deep Space. She had no idea how soon it would be before the ships themselves would be able to come through. Though she doubted they would be small enough to do so. They would have brought them through first if they could, and begun planetary bombardment of a major population center. That was assuming someone with superior military tactics was actually planning to win this fight without destroying all life, at the expense of his own army.

By Kara's estimation, the only way to defeat the army was going to be to find a way to close the portal. That meant someone was going to need to work on the device on top of Stark Tower. She saw Widow as she gained access to a sled through her unique skills and she was heading for the area of the Roof where she had seen Selvig at the start of the battle. Kara was actually impressed with her ability to steer through her daggers considering they were both embedded in the Chitauri's back.

That left Cap without anyone but Hawkeye watching his back. Kara hadn't been watching carefully but she knew he had to be out of arrows, or at least very low at this point. She took a chance and moved lower and didn't see any more reinforcements coming so she took the time to fly over to Cap and go back to back with him. She began taking out as many of the foot Chitauri as she could with her sword, saving her heat vision in case any more whales came through.

"What are you doing down here?" Cap panted between shield throws. He hated to admit it, but he was glad she was there to help him out. He needed a second to catch his breath.

Kara had to admit he was good with that shield, but he was going to need training in more than discus throwing if he was going to be a 'Defender of Earth'. She made a mental note to take him aside and train him later.

"Your dance partner left. I thought you could use a new one since I was playing wallflower." She called back as she decapitated another Chitauri that was dumb enough to get in range of her sword.

Cap paused for a moment and then began bashing in the heads of the Chitauri on of his side of the street. "I never got the chance to go to a dance with a partner before." He called back playfully.

"No prom?" She chuckled, grinning evilly as the Chitauri on her side were much more wary now of getting too close to her. She almost laughed out loud. He was flirting with her!

"Prom is something that is newer than I am." He admitted with a chuckle as he caught his shield once more as it bounced off five different points, including three enemies. Kara reevaluated his ability with just a shield. She'd have to work that in to her plans. He was damn good with it.

"Switch places," Kara called as she noticed a larger build-up of up close forces on his side.

Cap quickly spun around and slipped to her back as she did the same. The Chitauri on his side were willing to get close enough for her blade, and she was quickly able to kill several more while Cap had fresh targets to play 'bounce the shield'.

"Nice move." Cap chuckled between panting breaths. Between the two of them they had cleared this block. He leaned over and rested his hands on his knees as he took a few deep breaths.

"You both could audition for Swan Lake." Hawkeye's voice sounded over the comm. He sounded a bit like a disapproving father.

"No time for dancing now. I got the scepter." Widow's voice came through, still quiet and calm. "Selvig is a bit more normal now, and he said he's made a cut-off switch. I'm about to shut down the portal."

"NO!" Tony called out. "I got a nuke incoming and I know just where to put it." Kara could hear the rockets straining to get enough speed to intercept the missile. Nuclear weapons traveled at Mach fourteen point five. He'd have one shot at catching it. JARVIS could do it, if Tony let him.

Kara nearly began to hyperventilate as she understood immediately what Tony meant by the statement of knowing where to put it. "Tony that's deep space! Your suit won't handle it." She cried as she jumped up into the air. The power of her takeoff caused a crater to form around her. Cap fell on his back at the sudden drop of about three feet, as the pavement below him cratered from the pressure wave of her takeoff. He quickly rolled up on to his feet and ran towards Stark tower.

"It's a one way trip Tony." Warned Hawkeye as he followed Stark, the nuke, and Supergirl as she moved to intercept, "You sure about this?"

"Kara Stark gets everything if I die, so yeah." Tony told the group with as serious a tone as any of them had ever heard from him. "I made her my daughter, though she doesn't know that yet."

Kara's heart felt like it was ripping out of her chest. "Please Tony let me do it. I can survive deep space!"

"For what? Two minutes?" Tony snorted. His comm was followed by a grunt. "Besides," His voice was filled with effort as he steered the missile towards the portal. "I'm already on the way with it. Don't have time to hand it off. Going too fast."

Tony's comm cut out and Kara screamed. "NO!" She flew as fast as she could and caught up to Tony just before he entered the portal. She wrapped her arms around him and went through the portal with him.

The numbing cold was the first sensation she felt. Even with the knowledge that she was touching Tony's suit, she couldn't feel it. Nor could she hear the sound of the nuke's rockets. Tony managed to throw the nuke towards the lead ship.

Kara turned them towards the Portal opening and threw all her gravity forces into a dive towards the opening. It was starting to close but Kara knew they would make it through the opening before the EMP blast from the nuke could catch up to them. She still threw her body and cape around Tony, protecting the casing of his suit and his arc reactor as much as possible as they fell through the portal.

After the numbing cold of the Void, Kara's body took a moment to recalibrate to the natural warmth of Earth. Due to the speed that she had thrown them through the portal they were heading for the ground at terminal velocity for a human. She managed to roll them so she landed first and pushed against the gravity of Earth to soften the blow for Tony. Hulk had made a try at catching them but had missed due to the change in speed.

The double impact of the Earth under her and Tony landing on top knocked the wind out of her and made her vision grey out slightly. Tony was groaning but it was muffled by his visor. Kara could only be thankful that his suit protected him from the rest of the impact. She took a moment to wonder why she was getting wet before she noticed they were in a crater at least one story deep and several pipes above them were broken, or clipped. They were being sprinkled with thankfully clean water on them, which meant they had clipped a main water line and not a sewer pipe. Hulk carefully climbed down and picked up Tony. He brought him up to the street above, leaving Kara on the ground. She snorted lightly before she got up and flew up to the ground level where she regrouped with the other Avengers, except Widow who was still on top of Stark Tower.

"Sister!" Thor bellowed as he reached out and grabbed her into a quick and heartfelt hug.

"I'm fine Thor." She groaned as her body let her know that invulnerable or not, it didn't like hitting the ground that hard, but she warmly hugged him back, "As long as you don't break anything."

Thor quickly released her, but was reassured by her grin. She turned and grabbed Tony's shoulders. She forced him to face her and she looked over his suit and reactor first making sure both were working fine. When she saw the light was as bright as ever and the casing was intact she hit his shoulder lightly, causing him to stumble backward.

"I don't care what hang-ups you have, I am going to remove that shrapnel from your chest and if you argue with me I will do it while you're awake! Maybe then you won't be in such a damn hurry to kill yourself." She spat at him before she sighed in relief, and hugged him carefully. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

Tony finally caught his breath, grabbed her tightly, and hug her back as tight as he could, using the entire suit's strength to do it. The sensation was actually reassuring to her. More than usual she could feel the hug, the pressure reassuring her that he was in fact real, and still alive. Her hearing focused on his heartbeat. Strong, fast as hell, but still beating in the steady rhythm of a healthy heart. She cuddled her head against his shoulder, which required her to tuck her head a little since they were about the same height normally.

"I promise." He whispered soothingly. "You're my family, I couldn't just let them kill you." His words were near inaudible and whispered into her hair, but Kara heard them loud and clear. She sobbed once, a great gasping breath and she held it trying hard to control her after battle nerves in his armored arms.

"We should secure Loki before he gets too far." Thor's voice rumbled from directly behind her. Tony looked up at the man and saw his slightly jealous, but resigned frown as his eyes focused directly on Kara's back. Tony hoped he finally understood what he had lost by never getting to know her before she left Asgard.

"He's actually lying down in a Loki sized and shaped crater in your penthouse floor Tony." Widow told them. "I'll keep an eye on him while you guys come up, but I'd hurry. He's stunned, but conscious."


	6. How to create a Hero out of Thin Air

SoA – Part 3

Chapter 6 – How to create a Hero out of thin air.

Kara pulled back and wiped her eyes. Tony too had to wipe away his own tears. He wasn't alone, Hawkeye and Cap both looked a little emotional. Kara passed the message on to Thor and Hulk. As a group they headed towards the tower. Even Hulk was following quietly behind Tony. It seemed he knew Tony wasn't afraid of him and if his rescue attempt said anything, he liked Tony. Cap and Hawkeye looked a little uneasy but they made no moves against the giant green man.

"We'll need to talk about what you said before you went through the portal at some point." Kara whispered to Tony.

He smirked at her. "I know." He smiled at her as he did his best Han Solo impression.

"Ewwwww," She laughingly squealed. "That's just wrong." A great deal of tension left her with that laugh and Tony looked smug.

"Still worked." He pointed out as he gave her a 'Tony Stark' grin. Though even he felt a little weird about it and decided to never do that again with her.

As the approached the building the doors automatically opened and the elevator to the penthouse dinged on the far side of the lobby.

"JARVIS are you back online in the tower?" Tony asked the suit AI.

"Almost sir." JARVIS replied. "Brainiac and I have almost finished re-routing power to the servers that has the building backup. We are using the lab bots that are programed with U, and Butterfingers' programing to complete repairs where physically necessary." Tony and Kara shared a look that suggested how bad an idea that was, but beggar's couldn't be choosey right now. Tony's other AI's were well named. Kara would have to make sure Brainiac was well rewarded for working with the 'rather useless primitives'. At least they weren't using Dum-E. That one was a 'special' child that required actual babysitting to carry out simple tasks.

As a group they all entered the elevator. It was a bit of a tight squeeze with Hulk in the private and small elevator. Hulk entered first so he was at the back, Tony entered right behind him then Kara, Hawkeye and Steve had shared a look before they squeezed in the front. The door barely missed their noses as they both sucked in their guts to make the ride with the others. Hulk was calm and curious during the lift. He poked Kara in her lower ribs twice just as the elevator began to rise.

"You small god." He said finally just before they got up to the main floor.

"You big strong warrior." She responded with a 'light punch' to Hulk's arm and a beaming friendly smile.

Hulk took a moment to consider her words. "Hulk like little god," He grinned with a wide full toothy smile back at her.

"Little god like Hulk too," She replied with a light chuckle.

"Puny god smell wrong," He warned her as the doors opened, pointing to where Loki was lying in the floor.

Kara's eyes widened, but she nodded understanding that Hulk had known something was wrong in a way she had not detected. It gave her an idea of what to look for when she scanned him later, "Good Hulk to warn little god." If Hulk could smell the magic, then Loki was likely secreting the hormone that allowed him access to his seiðr. Without it he was cut off from his magic. It was actually how suppression cuffs worked. They cut off all but the mildest trickle of the body's ability to secrete the hormone. Without seiðr, magic users could get extremely sick and even die.

The rest of the group was staring at the two. Everyone else had to file out before Hulk could get by. Tony came right up to Hulk as the big giant stepped out, and gave him a punch to the arm too. "Friend, thanks for the attempted catch out there."

"Little man good," Hulk nodded, giving Tony a friendly-like pat on the shoulder as he walked by towards the rest of the Avengers who were starting to gather around Loki. Tony had staggered under Hulk's light pat, and Kara giggled before she turned her attention towards the group, joining them in their semi-circle around the still slightly stunned Loki. Widow looked much more relaxed than she actually was, and Thor seemed concerned and annoyed, it was hard for Kara to tell.

She could see Loki beginning to climb out of the hole by use of the stairs. She saw when his instincts kicked in, and he noticed he wasn't alone. He rolled over and looked at them all in a bit of a daze, but raising one hand slowly in surrender as the other braced him from falling over.

He looked at the group blinking as the afternoon sun was shining behind them and into his eyes. He seemed to gather his wits enough for him to sheepishly grin and say, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." He directed to Tony with a touch of humor. When no one moved he slowly pulled himself to his feet.

She looked deeply into his eyes as his eyes slowly scanned them all to see what their reactions were going to be. They were aquamarine. Then they flickered over toward Natasha and the scepter. Kara smiled at him lovingly as she walked up right in front of him. "I'm sorry Loki."

He looked down at her in confusion just as her fist came straight up from her waist. Her closed fist clocked him right under the chin. The blow lifted him, armor and all, a full two feet off the ground as her fist followed through. His head snapped back so violently that a crack was heard as she broke his jaw. Every single Avenger wince sharply at the sound. Tony's face also held a look of amazement. He'd never seen Kara throw a punch that hard. Loki fell in a heap of clattering armor and swishing fabric, not moving from where he landed on his back. His head hanging to the side and his eyes closed. There was no stunned look this time, his face was completely slack.

No one said a word for a good few moments as they all took in Kara's heavy breathing as she stared down at the broken god. Even Hulk was quietly staring at the scene wondering why she had hit him.

Kara turned to Thor with tears. "Please tell me you have another healing stone."

"Yes, of course sister." He scrambled to pull the stone from his secure pouch on the inside of his belt that was designed to hold several of the healing stones. He pressed the flat smooth rock in the palm her hand.

"Why did you hit him?" Natasha finally was the one to ask the question they all were dying to know the answer to.

Kara bit her lip as she turned to Clint and asked a question instead of answering directly. "What color are Loki's eyes?" She asked, staring at him sadly.

Hawkeye looked angry at the question. "Blue." He answered without hesitation and complete certainty. The others looked at her with different levels of comprehension; Thor looked surprised, Tony was pissed, the others didn't know what to make of the question.

"They should be _emerald green_." Tony snapped at the archer. He turned away from the group to glare at the hole in his window where he'd been thrown out of the Tower earlier as he crossed his arms across his chest in agitation. "Fucking hell. That's what the fuck was wrong… Fuck!" He growled at himself as he replayed the scene to himself. He had known there was something off during that little dance around each other before Loki had thrown him out the window. The wrongness had thrown him off his game long enough that he'd allowed Loki to get too close, and use the glow stick of destiny on him, or at least attempt it. He didn't understand why it hadn't worked, but it was something to look into later.

Kara kneeled down and checked both eyes. She sighed in relief at the dilated eyes that were rimmed with almost glowing emerald green irises. "Cognitive Recalibration I believe you called it Agent Romanoff." She replied softly, but loud enough that they all heard her.

"No fucking way!" Barton was quick to get down and check for himself before Kara could do anything else. When he saw the bright emerald green irises, and not the pale, or bright blue he'd seen when he was under the control of the scepter, he stood quickly and stormed away towards the balcony. His fists were clenching and unclenching in quick succession to bleed off his frustration and fight, off the urge to smash his fist into the concrete supports of Tony's penthouse walls.

Each Avenger except Hulk and Tony came over and checked the color of Loki's eyes before Kara applied the Healing Stone to his face. Tony had stayed where he was, unlike the others he knew Kara would never lie about something so serious, and didn't need to verify something he knew to be true. For the past two years he'd seen those same emerald colored eyes looking at him when 'Kara Stark' was around. He knew her illusionary image was just a female version of Loki. He'd stared into Loki's blue eyes just before he'd been sent out the window. He should have known then that something wasn't right. Blue just didn't look right on him, not after seeing the green eyes for so long on her.

Loki's jaw snapped back into place with a second painful crack as the magic of the stone went to work. The bruising healed over as they watched in amazement. Most of them had never seen real magic performed before. The speed of the healing was miraculous.

Kara looked back at them once the bruising had receded. "Once he awakens he will need to see friendly faces." She told the others sternly. She looked at Barton. "You understand?" Her tone held a hint of pleading. She understood that Clint wouldn't be able to simply shut off his emotions. Completely losing yourself wasn't something you just got over. She had no expectation of Clint even trying.

Barton took a deep breath and nodded curtly. While intellectually he understood Loki was being controlled as he was, viscerally he wanted nothing more than to put an arrow through Loki's eye socket. Barton turned quickly and began to head for the stairwell. Black Widow turned with an impassive look on her face, but her quick movements betrayed her loyalty. She was loyal to Barton and SHIELD, not the others.

She was also taking the scepter with her, the one weapon SHIELD was now aware could kill her. Kara needed to nip that attitude of Widow's in the bud before she ended up having to kill the woman when SHIELD decided Widow was the one who should kill Supergirl. The others would need to be a team, because if she had her way, ' _The Avengers'_ were going to lose Thor as a potential member, and they had never had her to begin with.

Kara would need them to be willing to work with at least her in the future, and possibly Loki. Thor would be a crap shoot at this point. Either he would return to Asgard, and that would be the end of his involvement with them, or Kara would be able to call on him if she needed. She didn't hold out hope for much else yet. She never did give up when she wanted something however, and she was hoping she could turn Thor to her side someday. There was also one other ace-in-the-hole when it came to Thor. Kara had Jane Foster, and if Thor's concern for her welfare was any indication, Jane had made as much an impression on Thor as he had on her.

"Hawk!" She called out, hoping he would at least listen for a second. Barton stopped and half turned to look at her with his tightly controlled facial expression. "I hope be able to help heal any damage done to you in a few days. I will not let your mind become susceptible again, my friend. If it is possible, I will give you every bit of help Asgard, and Krypton has to help, if you choose to accept it." She promised him. "And Selvig too, he'll be healed properly, or at least as much as possible. I just need to calibrate the healing devices for humans first." She explained to her still angry assassin.

Hawkeye gave her a grim upturned mouth and sharp nod. "You're still solid Supergirl." He replied with a softened edge to his voice. He used the same words he had said then to let her know he would guard her secrets. That had been about a year ago when Thor had fallen to Earth.

Kara sighed with relief as he left. Widow might be stand-offish, but Hawkeye understood where she stood. The Soul Forge would help him. Once the magic was wiped away and the memories of being controlled were muted, but not erased, he'd feel more himself and in control of his life again. She would never completely erase someone's memories. He'd be able to look back and see the events more objectively afterward. Hopefully he could talk sense into his partner. Widow seemed to listen to him, and no one else as far as Kara knew.

Steve was looking back and forth between the departing Avengers and Kara. "I should..." It was strange to see Steve so indecisive since he had been so authoritative during the battle. Hulk had started to leave and Rogers really didn't want him let loose in New York.

Tony took pity on him. "Let's get everyone some food. Bruce is going to need a ton of calories once Hulk relaxes, and so do you I imagine. I saw that place just a few blocks from here that I want to try." He dragged Steve along and tapped Hulk on the arm. "Come on big guy, we need to feed you a whole cow or something. I'm sure it won't be real cow, but imitation cow is better than nothing." Hulk grunted but did turn to follow the others. "You coming, Point Break?" Tony paused to ask Thor.

Thor's attention was focused on Kara and with beseeching eyes he seemed to be begging her to allow him to stay. He waited a moment for Kara to nod her acceptance. "I will stay here with my brother and sister to ensure that nothing else happens. We also have family issues to discuss." He added uncertainly looking quickly to Loki before glancing at Tony.

Tony and Steve both watched Kara nervously until she gave them a dismissive nod. Tony could tell she wasn't upset by Thor's sudden need to be with his family. If he didn't know better he would have been surprised by Kara's easy acceptance of him near her. Tony knew she was up to something, and he wasn't sure it was a good idea for him to be in the know yet, as much as it galled him to not be.

"It's fine. Thor and I do need to discuss family things as he said. Asgard will be expecting certain things and we will need to work a few things out privately." She replied. To most she'd sounded a little cold with that response. Tony knew better, that tone meant she was calculating odds.

Tony looked torn for a moment and Kara gave him a hand code that told him she was fine. He took her at her word. Steve noticed the signal, but refrained from speaking. Instead he just helped Tony herd Hulk towards the stairs instead of the elevator, hoping to catch up with Hawk and Widow before they got too far. Now that he no longer had adrenaline pumping through his veins, Tony was surprised the elevator had been able to lift them all. Kara and Hulk alone probably exceeded the max weight capacity.

The door to the stairwell was about to close when Kara called out. "Don't forget to call Pepper!" Tony swore again as he put his helmet back on so he could call her as he flew down center of the stairwell to catch up to the others and get them to wait for Cap and Hulk.

"What is going to happen now?" Thor asked her quietly once they had been alone for a few minutes.

Kara turned to him and her gaze was still rather cold. "You get to choose. Do you believe Loki is innocent, or guilty? After all you have seen." She asked him in an official sounding manner.

Kara had to give him credit; he didn't even take a breath before he answered her, "Innocent." His voice left no doubt of his sincerity of his opinion. It was also characteristically Thor; warm, devoted and caring in his opinion of Loki.

Kara bowed her head respectfully and inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. She was impressed by Thor's confident tone. Even his body language was screaming his complete faith in his declaration. "How far are you willing to go to back that statement up?" She asked, much more open and friendly in both stance and the softening of her voice.

Thor appeared confused. "What are you asking me to do?" Too much of Kara's questioning and body language reminded him of Loki when he was about to propose some great mischief.

Kara didn't answer him. "What do you think Fury is going to do if we refuse to arrest Loki, or refuse to allow them to place him on trial so they can blame everything on him?"

Thor lowered his head. "I would hope he would give Loki the same benefit of innocence that he afforded to Agent Barton. However your tone suggests such an action is unlikely." He bowed his head, showing his acknowledgement of her expertize when it came to Midgardian politics and law.

"His superiors fired a fusion bomb at a population center with millions of innocents in it just to insure that the aliens died." Kara told him frankly with a very angry posture, but even Thor could tell it was aimed at the people who had fried the bomb and not him. Kara was waiting for Brainiac to find all the members of the World Council. They might be getting a personal visit from her once she had time to look into their actions.

Thor looked utterly horrified. "That was the device that you and the Man of Iron took through the Portal?" During the battle Thor had not had time to find out what a 'nuke' was once he knew that something was happening with Tony and Kara. Unlike the others Thor didn't have a working comm during the battle. His had shorted out the first time he'd summoned lightening. He hadn't known what was happening until Kara and Tony were lying in the crater after Hulk had attempted to catch Tony and Kara. Even then he had no idea the gravity of the danger they had all been in from the 'nuke'.

Kara shook her head gravely. "That device would have created a firestorm over a good portion of the city, including; you, The Avengers, and the millions of civilians in the city for over one hundred miles from the detonation site, which was Stark Tower." Kara was assuming that it had been a single megaton bomb and not one of the fifty megaton ones. She hadn't had time to really look at the markings on it to identify its payload.

Thor had been horrified before, now he was fuming. "We were defending this Realm! They tried to murder its only defenders, and their countrymen?" He roared, clutching his hammer's heft tightly. Any other weapon would have cracked under his powerful fist crushing pressure.

Kara nodded sharply, her own temper barely restrained as she pictured the damage to New York if they hadn't flown it through the portal. "Now think what they will do to Loki if they get a chance to blame that mistake on him, instead of taking responsibility themselves?" Thor's whole manner changed in an instant, and the clear skies over New York began to cloud over. "Easy Thor." Kara cautioned him as she placed her hand on his fist that clenched Mjölnir in his hand. She could feel what little seiðr he had flowing through the hammer, stirring up the atmosphere. It was more aspect then magic that was powering the ions in the air.

Thor quickly reined in his temper. It took several minutes before both were calm enough to continue their discussion. "They will not have the chance. Asgard has jurisdiction over the Nine Realms. They will bow to Asgard's rule." He proudly lifted his chin as he made his decision. Any of these human's that tried to stop him would learn the true power of an Asgardian warrior.

Kara snorted at Thor's naïve and obliviousness about Midgard. "Thor they don't even know they are part of the Nine Realms, and they certainly don't respect Asgard's Right to Rule." Thor went to speak but Kara cut him off with a friendly shake of her head. "It has been centuries since Asgard has had a governor here. Over forty of their generations, give or take a few, it's no wonder they have forgotten all Asgard taught them." She reminded him. "While they might understand they were a part of a larger universe when I became public, most governments have likely not been informed by SHIELD they are under the jurisdiction of Asgard as a protectorate. The countries Asgard held in state are no longer the embodiment of Asgard's Traditions, nor do they rule the others as Asgard did through them. They haven't since the time Odin decreed Midgard off-limits for trade and travel." She clarified for him.

Thor's face scrunched up as he began to think. It was an unfamiliar expression and Kara just rolled her eyes. Loki would wake soon so she wanted Thor on board before she had to tackle him. He'd be the harder of the two to convince that her plan was for the best.

"We need to make it impossible for Fury, or his superiors, to make Loki out to be the bad guy." Kara laid out her the start of her plan. Thor began to listen to her idea and what the outcome would likely be, in both good and possible bad ways. Either outcome was something that Kara was willing to live with. Thor nodded approvingly. If they were going to pull this off it would be up to Loki to sell it, but they were willing to help him do it.

"Are you sure this will work?" He asked sounding hopeful, but uncertain of the humans. Would they believe her and be willing to do as she said they would.

Kara gave him an innocent smile. "I'm a hero, why would I lie to them? I never have before, and I save people all the time."

Thor gave her a confused glare. "But we are lying to them, are we not?"

Kara gave Thor the dreaded look of 'are you really that stupid'. Thor instantly began to look away from her as he caught on. "What part of he's innocent do you think is a lie?"

"The part where they have images of Loki on the sled on their picture boxes attacking the city." Thor replied as he pointed to the TV that was showing that very image on the newscast on Tony's wall sized TV screen. Kara watched the image for a moment and smiled deviously.

"They are showing a golden helmeted humanoid figure. It's not even a close up look of Loki." She replied. "We say that the man in that helmet is defeated. Which is true from a certain point of view," Kara smiled as she quoted Star Wars at him, knowing it would go right over his head.

"The man who was controlling him was defeated. Loki never attacked Midgard, and you had best starting thinking that way, or you are going to be a hindrance we do not need once we return home." She gave him a smirk; he was backed into a corner. "Unless you don't think he is innocent. If you think otherwise Loki is never going to be able to return to Asgard. Nor will there be any hope of repairing your relationship with him."

Thor sighed with a heavy heart. He knew she was emotionally blackmailing him. He wasn't that stupid. He did believe that Loki should not be held accountable if Hawkeye was not. Asgard however would have additional charges against Loki. He was unsure what they would be. No one discussed them at any time officially since Loki had been believed dead. The council had been too eager for Thor to be sent to retrieve Loki and Kara. He knew that did not bode well for Loki.

"I will not stand by and allow anyone to falsely accuse 'My Brother' of any crime he has not committed." He vowed sternly. "But I will not stand in the way of a charge for a crime he has committed." He told her with a fretful frown.

Kara raised a brow and Thor found himself unsure of his statement since he suddenly felt he had missed something. "As long as he is given a fair trial, I will agree to that. And by fair, I mean he actually is allowed to defend himself, not unfounded or unsupported accusations that are taken as true. If we have to provide proof, so to do they. If it is possible Loki is innocent, they have to let him go. I will accept no other verdict if these conditions are not met. Will you?" She questioned him with a slight challenge in her voice.

Thor looked confused by her conditions. That was not how trials went in Asgard. Both sides presented their cases to the King (or Justice in the case of peasants), and while accusations were not required to have proof, it often was helpful. Once both sides aired their grievances, then the ruling was passed down. There had been many times when Odin would not listen to the defendant (especially when it had been Thor or Loki) if he believed he knew most of the facts before hand, the charges had been read and Odin had make his judgement. What Kara was describing seemed fair. In the past Odin had usually been very harsh with Loki, believing that he was too good at covering his tracks. He didn't often leave proof behind to find, or he used magic to erase his presence, so Odin had not require that type of proof of claim against him. "Is this how it is done here on Midgard?"

"In most countries," Kara responded quickly, "especially in this country and the one called Germany. That was where he stole the mineral from the museum. Innocent until proven guilty is a major cornerstone of the fair justice systems of Midgard." _If you discounted all the monarchies, warlords, and places where equal rights under the law didn't apply that is_ , she thought privately. "Without that type of requirement what's to stop someone from saying you, or I, are Loki's co-conspirators because we support him, and are his family? Therefore we are just as guilty and should share his fate, even though we have proof otherwise."

Thor nodded wearily. He'd been trapped too often by, his mother and Loki's pretty words to want to commit without looking at the argument from all sides. Another new skill his mother had taught him this past year. Why he had ever considered her to be just his mother and wife to Odin he couldn't remember. This past year had shown him the warrior she had been in her youth, and her diplomatic skills that rivalled Loki at his best.

"We will need to discuss that portion later. I do agree with this first portion of the plan." Thor committed thoughtfully. Kara raised a brow with surprise but she couldn't help but be a little proud that he hadn't just dismissed the idea with the platitude of "Father knows best", or "The Allfather has a reason for all he does".

Timing of that statement from him couldn't have been better. Loki was waking up and gingerly rising to his feet, staring at them both warily. He looked around in confusion, seeing only Thor and Kara in the room. He'd expected to be in the room with the other Avengers, having to plead his case.

She walked up to him carefully and he flinched slightly when she moved her hands to his face. He relaxed when she placed both with exceeding care against his cheeks and smiled lovingly at him. "It's good to see only you looking back through your eyes Loki."

Loki felt a wave of relief at her words. Like Thor he'd had no idea Kara was still getting stronger with each day that passed on Midgard. That punch had been the hardest hit he had ever taken. He could feel just how much the healing stone had needed to fix. He raised his own hands to her heads and pulled her forehead to his lips and he kissed her brow. "It is good to see without the blue mist that has clouded my mind for so long." He admitted softly.

Thor came over and softly rested his hand on Loki's shoulder. "As am I," He told a skeptical Loki, "I as ever prefer to be at your side of any battle... I will always rather to be by your side."

Kara ushered them both to sit down on the living room furniture, once the turned them back on their feet, and began to explain everything that had happened with the others, and her plan for them and why.

"Are you strong enough to try?" She asked Loki anxiously. This was the only flaw in her plan, if Loki wasn't strong enough then the plan would fail right now. "Could you do any of it, have you the energy to try?" Her speech pattern slipping into 'Asgardian Shakespeare', Tony noticed she tended to do that when she was trying to be formal.

Loki did a few stretches of his fingers, neck, and back before he looked deeply at her. "If you want me to preform magical feats of strength, I am not. If you only require me to use my abilities, those not tied to seiðr, than yes, for a short while." He shot Thor a confused and wary glance, unsure of Thor's opinion of Kara's plan. That he did not object and seemed to be in agreement also confounded Loki.

Kara smiled widely. "Great! Can you fly with us for short bursts? Or should I lend you my flight?"

Loki rolled his eyes with aggravation. His lack of flight skills annoyed him, and he was still angry at Thor for throwing him from the Quinjet while he was still very low on power. The landing was still causing some stiffness in his back. Thor's power of flight was from his weapon, but Kara could control hers enough that she could extend it over him as long as they were in direct contact.

"I had a feeling you were going to insist on him accompanying us." He sighed, trying to not give away how feeble he actually felt. This was going to drain him immensely, but it was for a good cause. Kara's plan made sense if he wished to ever spend time on Midgard in the future. He put his hand out without reluctance. "I will require the pendant and your help flying for this evening." He finally admitted softly.

Kara bit her lip as she pulled it out and slowly took it off. Even though she knew he would give it back, it's presence had been a soothing balm for the past year. As she handed it over she felt the piece of him that she'd always sensed disappear. The loss made her feel colder and alone, like when she had been trapped in her pod just before she fell asleep as Krypton exploded behind her.

The cold, dark, silence, even as the planet blew up and the wave of destructive energy rushed forward to wash over her pod. Loki noticed her sudden unease and after quickly placing the pendent around his own neck, he pulled out two more Lokistones from his storage space. He drained all three to power himself before he had pressed one of the spent stones into her palm.

"I'll exchange the pendant with that stone when we are done." He promised. Kara nodded and placed the stone in the empty healing stone storage slot on her belt. Even unpowered the stone returned that feeling of him, the stones were intimately linked to his own life force, even unpowered they had a presence to them. It was enough to push the loneliness back.

"We best get to it, before the News Media starts leaving the areas we wish to be filmed in." She knew they wouldn't, but she wanted to get started as soon as possible. This way the World Council couldn't get their side of the story out first.

Thor and Loki refused to even look at each other. Thor kept his distance because, he didn't want to antagonize Loki into doing, or saying something that would have them both turn on him. Loki kept his distance because he was unsure how he felt about Thor. His memories were not to be trusted. He knew he would need a chance to get under a Soul Forge to remove all traces of the presence before his mind could be considered his own again. The Scepter was more powerful than either of his 'siblings' knew. He would have to explain to Kara later just how much danger she had been in when he had accidentally stabbed her.

Kara had looked at Loki. "Leave the helmets, both of you." She had ordered as she placed hers on Tony's bar. Thor instantly placed his and Loki slowly followed. "Loki, change your cloak to any other color you like please." She ordered, Loki looked offended at the command. "They have pictures of you with your cloak bellowing behind you. It needs to be more in line with us, and not green for tonight at least."

Loki rolled his eyes but complied, his cloak changed to dark blue outside with golden yellow inside. "Better?" He asked bitterly. The color scheme was one he had considered before deciding on the gold and green that best illustrated his magic once it became obvious he would never be as huge or strong as Thor. The yellow gold was more his mother's color than Odin's, and the blue was close to Kara's cobalt blue leather of her normal armor.

Kara had given him an optimistic, beaming smile that made him wish he was as good as she believed him to be. Her aura was growing stronger in just the few minutes they were speaking. Even Thor, who normally didn't respond to the aspects of other gods, was looking more enthusiastic and cheerful as they finished preparations to go and save the civilians that were trapped, or hurt from the battle.

Kara took Loki's hand to lead him her power of flight, and led them to an area not far from a local hospital. As the three landed they were in full view of the Media. Kara let go of Loki's hand. She smiled and gave a quick wave at the people who began cheering at the sight of the three 'Superheroes', even though they had no idea who Thor or Loki were yet.

Nearby there were first responders and laborers trying to clear the street. She turned to Thor and pointed out the laborers. "They need to have the roads cleared so the emergency trucks can get through. Can you ask where they wish you to place the debris, and start helping them there while we talk to the Police Chief about what else needs to be done? This will keep you in constant sight of the cameras, and they could truly use your strength and hammer here." She told him sincerely.

Thor nodded and walked over to the men staring in awe at the three of them. Loki stayed with Kara as she walked over to the Chief. "Hi sir, my brother Thor," She told him as she pointed to him, "is going to help clear the area around here. Where can Loki and I help most?"

The man looked like he was going to cry with relief. "Thank god for you Supergirl." He sighed with hope shining on his face for the first time since he'd seen the damage being done earlier in the day. "I have fire stations and roads blocked on almost every station and road in the twelve block radius north, west and east of Stark Tower. We have injuries and there have been several small fires breaking out all over the area. They are spreading since we can't get to them and we have no idea if people are trapped in those buildings."

"Loki and I can put out the fires nearby." Kara assured him. "Thor will try to clear this area around the hospital so people can make their way here." In fact they turned and saw Thor was already clearing the area by breaking the huge rocks into smaller pieces with his hammer. The other men were carrying the much smaller rocks to the side of the street. The Media was lapping it up. Kara smiled widely at seeing Thor use his hammer for more than killing. It would be good for him to remember this accomplishment. She strangely felt even prouder of him.

Kara and Loki bid the Chief goodbye as they flew a little over a block away to start their fire-fighting. "Can you control the flames from below while I blow them out from the top?"

Loki nodded quietly. He was content to give Kara's plan a chance. The idea was to show him as a hero on the local media stations, and within seconds it would be world-wide as other national, and international news agencies picked up the story. Several media helicopters were overhead filming as he and Kara began to put out the flames of the first building.

Loki had always had an affinity for fire. It liked and listened to him. He was able to use very little magic to douse the flames. As they died down people began to stubble from the building. Loki knew the opportunity was too good to pass up. He shepherded a young child over to the news crew that was just pulling up.

He handed the child over with a tired smile to the woman reporter. "I have to get back, please see he gets help."

"What's your name?" The woman managed to ask as Loki turned back to the building, He only turned his head as he kept walking away. "I'm Loki of Asgard." He ran back to the building and entered the structure to make sure there were no other fires that had escaped. Kara met him inside.

"Nice work." She smirked at him.

Loki chuckled with an air of mischief. "You wanted me to present myself as a hero, did you not?" He was a little bitter about not truly being a hero, but he understood the reputation Kara wanted him to have. He was willing to misdirect the humans if it would make her life easier.

Kara chuckled and looked at him with shining eyes filled with pride. "That was the plan. Now we need to repeat this several more times." She knew he didn't realize he was acting like a hero, even if he thought it was just for show. She'd play back the video to him someday to show him just how much he contributed to saving people today.

Kara informed the first responders that there were still people inside, but they needed to stop some other fires nearby. They were waved away as the people on the ground began rescue efforts. They could clear the buildings. It was their trucks that couldn't reach the fires themselves.

Over the course of about two hours Loki and Kara were seen, and filmed, putting out several more fires, escorting those that could walk out of buildings, and carrying many who could not. They returned to the hospital area once the fires within the battle damaged area were out. They helped Thor in clearing as much debris as they could in the roads around the hospital, all in full view of the media.

After about an hour Kara had heard reports that Captain America and Tony had also stepped up, and were helping people still trapped in Grand Central Station. Pepper was on the airwaves telling people that Stark Industries was bringing in aid, and helping FEMA, the Red Cross and other disaster relief agencies to bring as much aid as needed to the city.

The faces and actions of the 'The Avengers' (minus the 'Super Spies', Hawkeye and Widow), were plastered on every news program. Because people had the most positive reaction to Supergirl; Loki and Kara were featured the most on every channel in the world. The Media had the most footage of the two of them together after the battle. Seeing Kara working and having help from her 'Brothers from Asgard' was bringing a huge message to the world. What that message would be seen as in the coming days was still up in the air, but right now it seemed to be going in the right direction.

Everything was going well until Loki fell. Kara was beside him instantly. "Are you alright?" She asked worriedly. Not intentionally, she was within recording distance of a News Media truck. Loki had been making sure to stay near them so Kara's media plan would have the best chance to work. It would backfire if Kara didn't remove him soon.

"I am nearly out of seiðr." He warned her subtlety. "I need to recharge and heal before I can help more."

Kara instantly got the hint and called out to Thor. "Thor we need to stop for the night. Loki needs healing and rest, as do I." She added, letting her own exhaustion show. It wasn't hard to look like she was at the end of her endurance. She had been grievously injured that day. Even Thor looked grateful for the break. He was dirty and starving since they had not stopped to eat before they began their crusade to rehabilitate Loki's image.

Kara helped Loki to stand and led him over to a fire truck to lean on as the Media yelled questions to them. Kara let him go as she walked over to the Chief.

"Sorry sir, but we need rest." She stared to explain. The man looked at her with a grateful gleam in his tired face.

"No need to explain, you took on an alien army and helped here. You've more than earned it." He waved off her excuse and held out his hand. "I'm proud to have met you, Supergirl, and your brothers too."

She accepted his thanks on their behalf and then walked over to Thor who was now standing beside Loki looking concerned. "We'll need to go to the Fortress." She told them, not aware she was being recorded still. "It's the only place we will be safe from the governments of Midgard while we recover."

"I could get myself there, but I am not sure I'd be awake when I do." Loki admitted, exhaustion coloring his every word now that he'd reached his limit in strength. "I've used too much seiðr as is."

"I can carry you." She turned to Thor. "You will not be able to keep up and could be tracked. Do you mind waiting while I take Loki first and then come back for you?"

Thor shook his head with a reassuring smile, "Nay Sister. I am content to wait."

Kara nodded and then stepped into Loki's personal space to hold him to her side while his arm went over her shoulder. She took off at a leisurely pace due to all the helicopter traffic in and around NYC at the moment. They quickly moved away, knowing that she needed a certain amount of space. Once she had cleared that New York airspace she made sure to move at speeds that could not be recorded and got Loki to the Fortress.

"Make yourself at home." She told him once she opened the main door and sat him on the chair in the living room of her quarters. "I'm going to get Thor and some food." She explained knowing he didn't care much for fast food, but it was the only thing she was going to be able to get quickly. "I don't have much up here."

He shook his head, his exhaustion marring his handsome face. The area under his eyes looked as if they were bruised, and his face bone white. The only color was a slight flush of his cheeks, even his lips were pale. "Go _My Kara_ , I will be content to rest in this chair while you finish what you need to do."

Kara hugged him tightly before she left to return to NYC and Thor. They both went far enough away from New York to get some take-out food, enough to feed twenty before they went to the Fortress to relax and eat.

It was past time for Thor, Loki, and Kara to talk.


	7. Learning the Truth

SoA – Part 3

Chapter 7 – Learning the truth

"I really do not need this." Loki protested as Kara pushed him towards her Soul Forge after they had eaten. Unlike the ones on Asgard this one had been programed by Brainiac and herself. While it did the whole diagnosing, and promotion of cell regeneration, it also recognized Kara's DNA as Kryptonian, and not as a chimera of the Nine Realms races. Unlike the Soul Forge on Asgard this one also had a setting that replicated pure Midgardian sunlight without needing to be programed by a healer.

Loki would have preferred to slip into the device without Kara watching. He had always been shy of letting others near him when he felt weak. He'd already allowed much more vulnerability to be shown then he was comfortable with.

"Yes you do." Kara argued back. "Hulk smashed you, and I punched you hard enough to cause a severe concussion, and break your jaw so bad I'm not sure it's back in place! Besides you haven't been using magic beyond what the pendant can aid you in using, which tells me you are very low on reserves. It will help you regenerate your seiðr." She reminded him, her voice sounding a touch frightened, which meant she was hiding just how alarmed she was for him.

Loki continued to protest but did get into the Soul Forge without needing to be physically escorted, which he was sure Kara was seconds from doing when he finally did lay back.

Kara activated the privacy screen and told him to remove his clothes. Loki mumbled about her being too bossy, but faded the clothing away and Kara took her pendant back from him as he passed it over to her.

"Just rest Loki." Kara said softly as she smoothed his hair away from his face. "By morning you should feel much better."

Loki gave her a withering look, but reluctantly settled himself back and slowly relaxed his features. Kara activated the sedation sequence and watched as his eyes snapped open in betrayal. "No! I can't sleep!"

Kara shook her head and gave him a sympathetic sheepish grin. "You won't sleep. This is much deeper than that." She promised him. Loki still looked a little frantic as the sedation worked quickly, and he was almost immediately in a healing coma.

She punched up the programming to start a complete scan. "Brainiac, I want a complete history of all injuries that look less than three years old, even if they have been repaired by seiðr. I also want you to keep him under until the scan and injuries are fully healed."

"Does that include the return of his magic to healthy levels?" Brainiac asked. "They are currently dangerously low."

"No." Kara replied with a deep frown on her face. Magic took several factors into play when regenerating itself. It was one of the reasons she liked to sit on the Lay Lines in Britain when she was charging the pendant for travel to Asgard. The lines there were pure enough to charge it within hours rather than the number of days it took to do the same in California where there were no lines at all. "Let me know if it's at a still dangerous level before waking him. If not go ahead and allow him to wake without sleeping."

"Shall I start from scratch so the scan can be compared when you return to Asgard for trial?" Brainiac asked her. "Or start from the last scan performed by the Asgardian Soul Forge on record?"

"Yes, start from scratch." Kara told him with a deep sigh. "That way we can check what injuries are new without an accusation of foreknowledge."

"Beginning scan…" Brainiac said as the Soul Forge began to lite up.

Thor walked in and he looked a little uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I stay? I could be a second witness to the scan for the healers and court to hear from?"

Kara nodded and gave him a small but encouraging smile. "Sure Thor. That would be good I think."

"Patient 03 Identified as Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard… Half Asgardian, half Jötunn male…" Brainiac started.

"Half Asgardian?" Both Thor and Kara exclaimed in surprise and then stared at each other.

"Loki's only half Asgardian?" Kara asked him since Thor seemed happy to hear this news.

"We had thought him fully Jötunn." Thor explained to her carefully. "Loki is adopted." He quickly held up his hands to defend himself, but Kara was staring at him in surprise.

"That was what you meant to say onboard the Helicarrier." She looked sheepishly at him. "I had planned to apologize for my actions they were uncalled for."

Thor smiled warmly at her as he relaxed his defensive position into a more resting pose and he patted her on the shoulder in acceptance. "Odin found him on Jötunheim at the end of the war. He was obviously a newborn, no more than a week old." Thor explained the story Odin had told him.

"Father had heard a noise in the temple. There had been orders to not sack and kill priests, but in the heat of battle the staff had been killed. Father greatly regretted the deaths of the priestesses as it had been a convent like temple. He'd heard what he thought was a pained cry as he walked the massacre. He had thought it to be a survivor, but as he approached the woman he saw she had a bundle hidden under her. It was Loki. He was naked and wrapped in a royal blanket, and his facial markings named him of the House of Laufey. The blanket and markings together marked him as a Prince of Jötunheim. Father was unsure what he was going to do with him, but as he picked him up Loki changed his skin and coloring. Father stared at him as Loki matched his skin tone and temperature, even his missing eye."

Thor paused to give Kara a smile of affectionate amusement. "He hid Loki and brought him home immediately. Mother and I had been in hiding for several months. Only a few servants and Healer Eir, who had been Mother's personal healer then, was with us on Vanir. I was much too young to remember all of it, but I do remember Mother saying that I had a new brother, but he would be too young to play with for a long time."

"So Odin found Loki, he wasn't borne of him." Kara was curious if The Norns had sent Loki to Odin or if it was just happenstance. It was a major shift from her myths and legends of Odin from Earth 38, or even from Earth 1 if Barry Allen was to be believed. Could The Norns have changed the progress of history of Asgard so drastically by simply delaying Loki's birth, and making Loptr Odin's adopted son instead of his adopted brother? Why would they do such a thing? Did they do such a thing?

Thor shook his head sadly. "Loki and I never knew, until I invaded Jötunheim. He was attacked and discovered his heritage then."

Kara sharp intake of breath was the only sign she had heard him. It explained so much of Loki's state of mind when she had walked into the Throne room as 'Thora'. He had seemed slightly unhinged until they had spoken. He seemed to come back to himself, but he had been holding something back.

Thor kept rambling. "According to Heimdall, during the fight one of them grabbed his arm and it changed to blue. Loki later confirmed he was at least part Jötunn when he took the Casket of Ancient Winters and turned blue while standing in the Vault. Father found him there, they argued and Father fell into the Odinsleep before he could explain that regardless of his birth, Loki was his son, and he was a prince of Asgard."

Kara turned back to Loki and rested her hand on the side of his face. "Oh you poor fool," She whispered softly, "You had to have known I wouldn't have cared, or even Mother."

Thor looked down shamefaced. "It was not your disapproval he was concerned with I would think." He admitted drawing Kara's gaze back to him. Her hand didn't leave Loki's face. As deeply sedated as he was there was no way for him to hear, or even feel her touch. It helped her to have physical contact. Even now she had difficulty believing he was back and alive.

Kara chuckled at Thor and shook her head. "He feared all our reactions, because he believed himself a monster with no purpose." She told him with a sigh of discontent. "The amount of hate and fear that Asgard has generated towards the Jötunn people, it was preposterous, and yet you all bought into it." She looked at Loki sadly. "Especially Loki," She held Thor gaze. "Do you remember what Loki was afraid of most as a child?"

Thor once more nodded with a look of concern. "Yes, he feared the Frost Giant's would kidnap him, and force him to stay on Jötunheim." He looked slightly disturbed as he fidgeted near the Forge's side. "I promised to slay all of Jötunheim so he would not need to fear them any longer."

Kara laughed without mirth, "A childish vow, but once he found he was one in the middle of a battle to destroy those same people, he likely panicked." She reasoned.

Thor nodded in understanding. "I certainly would have been enraged, and frightened by such a revelation." His voice never wavered in his conviction of what he had just said, as if it hadn't been an admission of weakness.

Kara stared at Thor and for the first time since his return and actually saw him. His eyes were shadowed in a way that Kara had never seen before. There was no prideful boasting, or glory-seeking posturing. Even when they had been saving civilians and Loki's reputation with the press and the public; Thor had obeyed her command not to fight with Loki. It had been three hours, but he had put all his efforts into helping the humans. More importantly he had not done anything to counter-mind Loki's redemption in the eyes of anyone for his own glory.

Thor grew even more uncomfortable under her gaze. He lifted his arm and pointed to a chair in the other room. "May I gather chairs for our vigil?"

Kara nodded but as Thor turned to leave she saw something on his bracer that made her breath catch in her throat. On them was a shadow of Loki's helm, and nothing else. She knew Thor would have mourned Loki. But after their fight on the Rainbow Bridge had led to Loki apparent death, Kara hadn't really thought he would mourn or show his grief so publicly. His friends certainly wouldn't be supportive, she was sure. She was surprised that after a year he still would have the shadow, she was sure the others would have jeered him for it.

Sif's comments had been of joy that Loki would no longer shadow her footsteps any longer. She had hated that he guarded her back in battle. Fandral had been more mournful, and hadn't said much of anything which had been odd for the talkative man. Hogun had as always never said a word so Kara was unsure where he had stood on Loki's death, but as he truly did dog Sif's heels. Kara was sure he agreed with her. Volstagg had been the only one to truly mourn his friend within Kara's hearing before she left Asgard. She had heard his whispered prayer to The Norns that Loki find happiness where his journey lead him; to Valhalla or wherever his trickster heart had led him.

Kara's soft spot for Volstagg had her wondering what had happened to the robust warrior. She had been scathing in her letter. She had listed every fault she could on all of them, but even in her deepest grief she had left the actions of Volstagg less malignant than those of his companions. His words of serving the crown and Asgard had saved his life from Kara herself. His choice to stand down and protect Thor had won her pardon once her rage had cooled. She hoped he hadn't suffered as she hoped the others had.

Thor brought in both chairs and placed one on each side of the Soul Forge, allowing both to be equal distance from Loki. Kara had given him a genuine smile as she took her place and sat down, making herself as comfortable in the chair as possible since this would be a long wait.

Thor did the same. The chairs were padded with a gel-like substance in furs, making them easy to be seated in for hours. The round, semi reclined, nest-like beds in the bedrooms of the Fortress were modeled after Kryptonian furniture. The mattresses were made of the same gel-like substance and covered in the silky sheets and blankets of metallic silver fabrics of Krypton. Where there had once been only her own room before, in an effort to vent her stages of grief, Kara had literally carved out two additional wings with several rooms in each. She'd made two into bedrooms in hopes of Barry and Kal El's possible visit.

Kara and Thor seemed lost in their thoughts for several minutes, unsure how to break the ice further between them. Kara had so many questions to ask, but had no idea where to start. Thor for his part was unsure how to talk to Kara. Before his fall, his pride had been out-of-control, and he had resented her presence. During his fall to Midgard last year he had seen what Loki had always said about her. She had the heart of a warrior, mind of a councilman, and a heart that could rival their Mother. She was young, but still in some ways wiser than he or Loki.

Brainiac broke their unintentional stalemate. "I have a complete list of injuries that will require extensive healing."

Kara looked dumbfounded as did Thor as they both stared in shock and dismay at each other over the fallen body of Loki. "You have been scanning for injuries all this time?" She was aghast. It had been at least ten minutes. The scan should have been completed in less than two minutes. A new scan was always deeper and took longer, but that was only about thirty extra seconds to gather the additional DNA sequencing, and comparing it to the genetic database for things like paternity and predisposition to certain diseases.

"Affirmative," The AI answered. "The best way to describe his injuries is to say what had not been broken, ruptured or scarred within the past two years, most occurring within the last six months."

Kara felt like she was going to be ill. Thor quickly rose and kneeled beside her and took her hand. "Please tell us so we know what we are dealing with." Thor asked hoarsely.

"At present I can rule out sexual abuse; although his pelvis has been damaged several times near the leg joints and spine." Brainiac confirmed. "His neck and head while have had severe bruising, and been broken at least twice does not seem to have been targeted." Kara and Thor looked at one another in fear. Thor quickly moved around the table to offer her a hand, placing it carefully on her shoulder in support. She gripped his hand painfully though not with any intent to harm him, Thor knew.

"His legs, back, arms, and ribs seem to have been the target of the torture he sustained. The reason for the long scan was an attempt to try and determine the amount of times those targeted areas had been shattered or damaged, and then healed." Brainiac paused as Kara stifled a cry of horror and held Thor tightly. He returned her embrace while he stared unseeingly at Loki's peacefully face under the golden light of the Soul Forge's healing shield.

"I was unable to determine the amount of times the areas have been mostly if not fully healed, though a minimum of fourteen times was average for most of the targeted areas. I can also determine that the magical healing was mostly complete each time. There will be no loss of function once healing has completed this time, though it might be a few weeks before his nerves stop misfiring a little pain in some of the more damaged regions of his body. As is common in Asgardians, his bones have reformed stronger than before each time." Brainiac confirmed. "His bones are now as strong as any in Thor's body. I'd estimate least forty percent stronger than previously scanned on his Soul Forge records, though a stress test would be needed to confirm those results. Only his skull and top three vertebrae show minor increases in density." Brainiac had cheated when it realized how deeply the damage had been. It had checked Loki's last scan in the database to see what his bone density had been two years prior.

Kara reeled and Thor steadied her so she didn't fall. He wasn't sure what to say to her. He too was completely taken aback by the amount of damage that would be needed to increase bone mass by forty percent. Her computer had been estimating on the low side.

"It is common among Asgardians for our broken limbs to become stronger so they will not break again under the same injury." Thor managed to choke out, he was holding his own sobs back for Kara's sake as she was losing control of her composure and was openly weeping on his shoulder. For a forty percent increase in an Asgardian, those bones would have needed to be shattered to powder at least three times, and then very painfully healed over the course of days but more likely a week to ten days. But that would be for a full Asgardian. As Loki was only half Asgardian it was possibly as high as twice that number, depending on how much his personal healing factor was closer to Asgardian or Jötunn. Either way that meant he had been tortured, healed completely, and then tortured once more repeatedly for most of the last six months at least. No wonder he'd not wished to be put to sleep.

"As Prince Loki is half Asgardian that is a likely outcome for the increased bone density of his limbs, pelvis and extremities." Brainiac confirmed what Thor had been thinking. "His skull shows signs of several magical attacks that have left possible places for mental intuition in the future. He should be able to create magical blocks to repair, or close the damaged areas, once he has his magical level back to a regenerating level."

"The mind-control," Kara managed to choke out through her tears, "We have physical proof of it?"

"Affirmative, I have found traces of magical attack in his brain, and have begun to wipe the magical residue away. The shadows of magic have a blue aura, much like the color of Prince Loki, and Agent Barton's eyes while under the influence of the Scepter. Memories created under the influence of the magic will be stained blue regardless of any healing."

Brainiac projected an image of Loki's brain above the Soul Forge showing the Frontal lobe coated in the blue haze, the magic seemed to be hovering above his mind, no longer deep in the crevices as it would have shown had the scan been done while Loki was still under the influences of the mind control. There was some very slight physical scoring where the magic had been hooked into the mind and then violently rip away, likely when Hulk and Kara had stunned and knocked him out. Kara bet the same would be in Barton's mind when they scanned it.

Thor pulled back and looked Kara in the eyes. Hers were already red from crying. "This means we can prove Loki was not the one who attacked Midgard, and he was under the control of another." He assured her with a warrior's calm, a skill Kara didn't not yet have and Thor rarely used to employ. Warrior's calm was a mind discipline to help them keep in the moment when a battle rage tried to escape. As Thor was a berserker warrior, he often neglected this practice. However now was not to time for either of them to fall into such a rage.

Kara gave him a small nod. "It won't be enough for some." Kara told him sadly as she continued to stare down at the floor; she was unable to look at Loki without bursting into tears once more. She knew rage would come later. Right now she was too tired to be that angry.

"If I may, Kara you're energy levels are extremely low and you should spend time in the sun chamber." Brainiac had picked up some of JARVIS's speech patterns and used them when Kara was being stubborn about doing something she should. Unlike Tony who always ignored JARVIS, Kara was more likely to listen to either when they presented her with advice politely.

Brainiac raised the sun bed from the floor on the other side of the room. Kara looked unsettled but Thor encouraged her towards it. "You should rest now. He'll need you tomorrow when he awakens. As will I. I am sure to anger him without meaning to, and we will need you to be the voice of reason, Sister. We have several Realms to straighten out now that the battles are over. We all need to be at our best. I will watch over him and make sure no more harm comes to him this night." He reassured her.

Kara looked longingly to Loki but she could feel herself lagging. Her injury from the Helicarrier was healed with only the scar left behind. That could be healed in the Soul Forge tomorrow in less than an hour. The healing stone earlier, and then the battle for New York had drained her to unprecedented levels that still allowed her to function with her powers. Any lower and she would lose them for an unknown amount of time.

She gave in with a weary nod and wandered over to the sunbed. She waited until the sunbed lid closed to fully block Thor's view of her before she faded most of her clothing away, leaving her undergarments. She knew the more skin she exposed the better her absorption rate of solar energy was. There was no way she was going to allow her brothers to be unsupervised. At least this way, even asleep, if Loki or Thor made a noise she could wake up and deal with it.

"Brainiac, wake me before Loki is due to awaken." She whispered softly.

"I will Kara." Brainiac promised.

Kara allowed herself to drift and fall back asleep as she felt the sunlight penetrate her energy parched cells in soothing waves of warmth. The waves slowly drifting passed her outer layer of skin and into her body. The energy absorption was so soothing she immediately fell into a deep healing sleep.

While in the sunbed Kara dreamed of the incident on the Helicarrier. His eyes were cold and so bright blue as he studied her before discarding her to die on the floor. She was beginning to gasp for breath in her dream when she was called for.

"Kara." Thor's voice called as the sunbed moved. Kara was thankfully wretched out of her sleep quickly by the movement. Thor had tried to lift the locked lid she realized as she gasped deeply. Her lungs hurt. In her dream she couldn't breathe and she felt as if she must have been holding her it for too long. She released the clasp on the bed and the lid lifted.

"What's going on, is it Loki?" She asked as she rose and flashed over to the Soul Forge. She could see Loki's eyes were closed but his head was lying to the side, facing her, and his body moving in small jerky movements. His face wasn't resting any longer; he looked to be in pain or having a nightmare.

Brainiac spoke up. "I was just removing the sedative and was about to wake you when Prince Loki began to spasm immediately."

"Can you revive him right now?" She asked hurriedly.

"Kara perhaps you should..." Thor was trying to say something but Kara was only focused on Loki.

Kara ignored him as she monitored the Soul Forge's instruments. Brainiac was feeding him a reviving energy that should see him awaken immediately. Looking back to Loki's face she could see his eyes were open and he was blinking to adjust to the light levels. His body was still except his hands which were tightly clenched into fists.

"I promised I would not allow you to sleep Loki. I meant it." She assured him as she ran her hand over his forehead and over the back of his head soothingly.

Loki's eyes widened in surprise and then he slammed them shut. "Certainly not dreaming," He rasped.

"Kara your clothing..." Thor once more tried to warn her.

Kara finally took notice of her lack of attire. She groaned and allowed for her Kryptonian white clothing to appear over her body. "Sorry about that." She grumbled as she stepped further away to hide her blush. "I was healing in the sunbed."

Loki nodded and cracked one eye open first before opening both to look at her fully. "Are you still hurt?" He asked her as his hand passed over where he had stabbed her yesterday.

Kara took his hand, lifted her shirt a little and placed his fingertips on the scar. "The damage is healed." She promised. "The scar only needs a little time in the Forge to be healed completely. Your injuries were more important than any cosmetic damage I sustained yesterday. I will see to it later."

Thor came up and stood next to her. "It is good to see you are healing so well... Loki." Thor had paused but he had used his name instead of his common use of brother, which was for the best right now.

Loki glared at Thor. "Am I under arrest?"

"Nay, you are no more responsible for the attack yesterday than Agent Burton is for his actions while under the scepter's influence." Thor began with a smile as he sat back down in his chair at Loki's side so he wouldn't be looking down on Loki. "If SHIELD is not going to hold him accountable for those acts, then they cannot ask you to be held to a different standard." Thor explained with a sad grimace. He looked at Kara to complete the explanation as she understood the Midgardian laws better than he did.

Kara gladly took over with a nod of gratitude. She leaned against the bed as if she didn't have a care in the world was discussing the weather, and not a failed alien invasion. "In my official role as Midgard's ambassador I cannot, and will not, allow them to hold you against their own laws. That was part of the reason I wanted to whitewash your reputation. Only a few people saw you up close and with those horns and cheek guards on your helmet, they likely didn't get a good look at your face." Kara informed him casually. "It is also against Asgardian law for those under the thrall of another, or while under the influence of seiðr, to be held accountable for their actions. It is the crime of the Master, not the servant." She reminded him.

He winced at the terms but nodded slowly. He'd understood all that last night. He knew Asgardian law better than she did, but he did have to bow to her superior knowledge of Midgardian law. "The Soul Forge has proof of the damage left behind so it is a moot point, and a waste of time and resources to arrest you." She finished with a wide genuine smile.

Loki laughter was tinted with darkness. "As if Asgardian law applies to Frost Giants," He all but snarled as he shot Thor a distrustful glance.

Kara raised a brow and waited for him to look at her. It took Loki a full minute before he realized Kara hadn't said anything and he was forced to look at her to see her reaction. He'd wondered at Thor's non-reaction, as if the fact he was a Frost Giant was a non-issue. Neither of them was looking at him with disgust, but rather a touch of amusement.

Before he could start yelling or throwing spells around Kara interjected with the news that was sure to make him pause. "You're half Jötunn and half Asgardian," She corrected. "The Soul Forge confirmed it with a fresh scan."

Loki looked as if he was going to contest her findings, so Kara turned the report screen so he could see the results from the night before. "Unless you can explain who else could be here that has sustained the same injuries you have over the past year, and who was in this Soul Forge overnight getting his whole body reworked."

Loki's eyes were set to pop out of his skull as he absorbed the report. He'd known he'd been tortured for what felt like years, but this report confirmed everything. He remembered the time The First has accidently broken his neck and nearly killed him. 'Than'... A rack of pain ran through him as he began to think his name... ' _The Leader of the Black Order'_ , he corrected his thoughts, had ordered The First to be tortured as a result, leading to Loki gaining a full week of respite. The rest of the injuries were the ones inflicted while they tried to learn as much as they could about Asgard, and the Nine. They had wanted to know the state of the Realms, and the locations of the Infinity Stones.

Loki hadn't known for certain where any were, except the Tesseract. He'd allowed that it was on Midgard to slip, but he'd also admitted it had been lost in the one of the many oceans some seventy years earlier, rather than reveal it was in the hands of SHIELD. He'd also managed to downplay Kara's abilities so much that 'The Leader' hadn't been interested in her. At least he hadn't seemed to, until Barton had mentioned that she was wanted for the Avengers, and had turned them down. He'd also mentioned how powerful she was. He'd paid a small price for that, but he'd successfully passed it off as her gaining more abilities since he'd last seen her. Something Barton had also confirmed since Kara had grown stronger over the past year and SHIELD had noticed.

Loki had to stab her and that weighed heavily on him. The act had shown she wasn't as powerful as 'The Leader' believed from Barton's report, and it had been completely accidental. He'd left her hanging on the spear longer than necessary. That was something he would take a long time to forgive himself for. He'd needed to make the accident look like a fatal blow, because 'The Leader' himself was about to take her if she hadn't been so mortally wounded. If he'd known how easy it would be to heal he'd have forced Loki to enthrall her too. Once under his control she would have been impossible for anyone else on Midgard to beat. Only he could have possibly stopped her, and only if he'd been at full health which of course he hadn't been. 'The Leader' would never have allowed him to free her if he'd thought she'd live.

"I'm so sorry Kara. I had to stop him from taking you too." He gasped as he looked away from both her and the report. He couldn't deal with the implications of his parentage once more. He had not had time to accept his being Laufey's son, now it seemed he was still half Asgardian. Who would have willingly lain with the enemies King, during a war? What did that make him? These were questions he did not want answers to, nor could he keep himself emotionally level if he tried to process them now.

"We have a lot to discuss once you are up and fully rested." Kara told him patient and lovingly. "Because the first thing we are going to do is return the Tesseract to Asgard." Both Thor and Loki stared at her in surprise. "You will be coming with us." She ordered Loki with a stern glance, daring him to object. "Not under arrest, but as a returning Prince, and former Regent King. Anyone saying otherwise will of course have to prove their case against Me, Thor, Mjölnir, and of course yourself." She flashed him a wide smile. "The three of us against Asgard; I don't like Asgard's chances." She grinned with a touch of playful wickedness that made Thor laughed heartily.

Loki laughed painfully and winced as he stopped. "That will take a miracle, _My Kara_."

"Just add miracle-worker to my list of names then." She sassed as she turned and walked away. "I'll make breakfast. Join us when you're ready." She called out as she led Thor towards her kitchen.

"How did you sleep?" She asked him as then entered the kitchen area and were out of Loki's hearing.

Thor gave her a weary smile. "I did sleep some. The chair was not the most comfortable thing I have slept upon, but it is certainly not the worst." He told her with a truly happy smile. This morning had gone much better than he'd hoped. It seemed the past year had lessened Kara's anger, and their confrontations had been an anomaly due to her overwrought emotions and his senseless tongue.

Kara nodded happily. "I had hoped to rest a little after we all talk. We will need to return to New York City. I wish to continue to help some more with the clean-up, and rescue efforts." Her tone suggested she was asking for his opinion. "You will come with me and help too, please?"

Thor nodded thoughtfully and placed a hand on her shoulder in an approving gesture. "There is a large amount of damage. Your computer friend has been giving me updates. It seems your plan for redeeming the name of Odinson is working very well." He grinned bashfully. "Both our names needed a little polishing. My exploits during my last visit were not the best impressions I could have left behind of Asgard, and our warriors, or our culture."

Kara smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "It could have been much worse. At least the battle was limited to the desert and not in Puente Antiguo." She reminded him before she turned her attention to the screen. "Brainiac can you give me the highlights?"

A holoscreen appeared in the room as Kara gathered the ingredients for making omelets and toast. "Reports from the worst affected areas were covered extensively by the News Organizations around the World. Those reports are of Supergirl and two other men who were identified as Thor and Loki Odinson, Princes of Asgard, and Supergirl's adopted brothers. All three of you were recorded helping; either rescuing people from burnings buildings, or clearing roads for emergency vehicles. None of the reports included pictures of Loki from the battle and no one has suggested he was part of the attack."

A reporter's image on the holoscreen was reporting from the hospital and the footage Brainiac was showing had all three siblings talking just before they left for the night. There was another clip of Loki as he handed the child over to the reporter at the scene of the fire from last night too.

"There are also reports coming in from people all over the battle area that say both brothers were helping to battle the aliens." The reporter continued after Brainiac stopped talking. "There are also reports that these brothers are the actual "Thor, the God of Thunder" and "Loki, the God of Mischief" from Norse Mythology." The co-anchor reported.

"A press release from Stark Industries last evening said, "Thor the God of Thunder, and Loki the God of Mischief and Magic are the mythological figures featured in many stories. Like all myths most of the stories about the men in question are however false, or greatly dramatized. Both men are Princes of the Realm of Asgard, and Supergirl, holds an honorary title of Princess Zor El Friggadötter, as their foster sister."

Kara stopped and stared in disbelief at the reporter as the recorded broadcast continued. "All three have risked their lives in helping to turn back the alien invasion that happened yesterday in New York City. Asgard had detected a threat and sent Supergirl aid in the form of her brothers. As their Foster Sister they felt it their duty to help in protecting this planet and turning back the alien invaders known as 'Chitauri'."

"Stark Industries would like to thank both of their Royal Highness's for their support and help during this crisis. Thank you." The reporter finished quoting.

"Pause it Brainiac." Kara said with a laugh. "Call Darcy, will you?"

"What is so funny?" Thor asked. Loki came around the corner with a puzzled look on his face as Brainiac put the call through.

"I was too busy last night and forgot to clue Pepper in on what was happening. Either Tony got her up to speed, which I doubt, or that statement was put together and sent out by-"

"This better be god damn important, or I am serious going to kick the ass of whoever was dumb enough to call before dawn," snarled a very cranky, very snarky voice over the intercom.

"I am making you my official Press Officer, which means you are now on 24 hour duty and get a huge raise." Kara chuckled as she tried to imagine Darcy's face right now.

"Dudette!" Darcy called out, awake and cheerful. "I take it you liked it!"

"I loved it Darcy!" Kara praised her. "I couldn't have done it better myself."

"Brainiac and JARVIS helped." She admitted a bit sheepishly.

"I only supplied the name of the alien race, titles of the Princes, and JARVIS only made the wording more formal sounding. He's had lots of practice with this skill." Brainiac reported. "I also forwarded a copy to Ms. Potts so she was in the loop." He added with a hint of amusement, which was again JARVIS's influence. Brainiac's original programing didn't have amusement in his responses.

"I too wish to thank you for your kind words, Lady Darcy." Loki spoke with his most courtly manners.

"And I, Lady Darcy," Thor boomed as he looked towards his brother with a smile. "It is good to hear you voice again Lightening Sister."

"Hey Lightening Bro. I missed ya, big guy. Next time stop and say goodbye before you leave, not nice forgetting." Darcy laughed as she sassed the huge warrior. "And Loki, great to hear you're back! Dudette missed you something awful! You are not allowed to die ever again, you got that mister." Kara could imagine Darcy pointing her finger at him in her mind.

Loki looked a little puzzled at first, but chuckled by the end of her speech. "I will do my best, Lady Darcy."

"Ah Thor, heads up you need to call Janie." She warned him seriously. "She's awake and banging around next door. She's likely been up all night waiting by the phone for a call."

"Are you guys in the safe house?" Kara asked her.

"Yup, in those rooms under your house at Stark Mansion, SHIELD tried to get us to go to some telescope in Norway. I told them to fuck right off." She snorted with contempt. "What a bunch of wankers!"

"They did what?" Kara questioned with a touch of anger in her voice. "When, did they try to use force?"

"That would be my doing." Thor admitted shyly, and his voice was much quieter than usual as he did not want to start a confrontation. Loki looked at him with a raised brow but didn't say anything. He knew why Thor would have tried to put her in hiding. "It was a precaution when we were not aware of Loki's intentions."

Kara turned to Loki waiting for an explanation. "I might have made a threat about going to see her in my madness on the Bridge." He admitted with a small chuckle. He really couldn't blame Thor for the precaution. It was actually a wise move.

"Supes so would have kicked your ass if you tried big, dark, and green." Darcy piped up with her cheerful banter. "I am so her favorite human. And nope, Agent Wardo backed right off when I pulled out the new and Stark updated tazer and backed Janie and me up into the safe room door. So you have no need to kick SHIELD ass. He was even polite too… and cute."

Kara laughed at her language and sass. Both Loki and Thor were amused by it and were quietly chuckling behind their hands. "You're on par with Tony and Pepper." She admitted to her friend.

"Pepper I can totally get, cuz I want to be her when I grow up. She is the most awesome woman on the planet. She can wrangle Tony like a mom with a messy, stubborn toddler." Darcy gushed. "But I am so totally better than Tony. The dude has his own level of ADHD, and I'm just lovable."

"Which is why you are on par, it's impossible to choose one over the other. It's like choosing a favorite child, it doesn't happen." Kara snapped back playfully.

Loki snorted and crossed his arms in disagreement, strangely enough so did Thor. Kara looked back at both of them as they turned their heads to look at each other. The tension in the room ratcheted upward… several thousand notches. "I'm going to have to call you back later Darcy." She replied carefully. "I'm about to have a 'Here's Johnny' moment." She told her, which was code for 'my brother's look like they are about to kill each other'.

Brainiac instantly disconnected the call and Kara physically placed herself in between the two brothers. It was time to sit them both down and create a reconnection, or she might just lose Loki to the personal whims of a King who cared less for him than his own public image. Without Thor's support Odin might sacrifice Loki, and Kara would fight to the death to prevent that. Hopefully she could get them both on board and working together once more, hopefully without a massive amount of blood staining her floor.


	8. Rite of hospitality

SoA – Part 3

Chapter 8 – The Rite of Hospitality.

"OK, I was hoping to eat first, but we can do this now." She told them with a glare as she stared both of them down in turn, Thor first then Loki took their seats still shooting each other angry glares. "Separate corners to start with I think," She ordered, pointing to two chairs, one on either side of the kitchen table. Kara turned off the stove and pulled over a third chair. She sat on a third side between the two men.

"Ok, these are the rules." She told them both sternly. Her aura took on a godly luminescence. Neither had seen her use her Asgardian goddess powers until then and both watched her carefully. Neither knew her power yet, but Loki knew it was emotion based.

"You are both welcomed guests in my house." Her words held a hint of power, and both brothers instantly sat up straighter, feeling the magic of her words as they began. "My food is your food. My fire is your fire. My home is open to you."

Loki and Thor both looked at one another slightly surprised by her actions. She had just initiated a Rite of Hospitality. It would sully their honor if they abused it with their poor behavior. Before she had said the words the hospitality was implied. Now it had power because she had initiated the power behind the intent.

"I wish to mediate our disputes by the asking of mediation questions." She continued formally. She knew the words, but she had never felt the seiðr of a Rite settle on her shoulders before, nor had she ever held such authority over anyone. "I will ask and I will expect honest answers." She said, never looking at either of them longer than the other, and making a point not to look at Loki when she said honest. She trusted him to be honest and she didn't want to imply to Thor that she thought he might lie in any way. Planning out moves like this was why Kara hated going to court. Every interaction would mean something to those watching, and not always what was meant to be said.

"As you wish," Loki replied, his word neutral. He was very good at hiding his feelings usually. Today he was surprised and agitated. While his voice hid how he felt, his face showed some of his concern and distrust of Thor.

"And I, Sister, also agree." Thor replied as he reined in his boisterous voice to a more courtly tone suited to the situation. Like Loki his face gave away some of his own unease at the possible questions and answers they would be asked to give. There were so many ways this could turn into a battle of him against the two of them, and in a battle of words Thor knew he was outmatched by Loki alone. With Kara on his side he was outgunned and outclassed.

"Great." She sighed in relief. She really wasn't sure where to start. She'd hoped to have some time over the day to come up with something. There were answers she wanted, and answers she knew they needed to hear from one another. She'd hoped to probe them both while they worked on Loki's reputation in New York City again today to see what answers they needed from each other, and what was just her own curiosity. She'd have to wing it.

"Ok, I'm not sure where to start, so I am going to be random here." She said admitted quietly. "But first there are two points I wish to make certain both parties understand." She waited for both to nod stiffly. Everyone was taut with stress. She really wanted to ease some fears from them both. They knew she wasn't cruel, but she was known for being honest, and by diplomatic standards a little naïve. Most of the warrior class on Asgard discounted such methods. Kara's main shortcoming was that she lacked experience. That lack was a pitfall she needed to be careful of. Loki being the master of diplomacy was the best prepared of them all. But he was also recovering from torture, life-altering surprises, and injuries. None of them were prepared for this, but it needed to be done.

She took a deep breath and then began. "These are points that are not up for debate at this time." She waited for both to nod once more before plunging ahead. She was breaking protocol a bit, but both knew the intent behind her intervention, and to be honest with the exception of their Mother, neither of the brothers could trust anyone else to mediate, and Thor had his own issues with Kara which made her a biased mediator. She was going to try hard to not be during this rite.

"First point, Loki is half-Asgardian and not the biological son of Odin. His wish to not be called Odinson for this discussion is not to be disregarded. We both will honor his wish to not be called brother until he says otherwise." She told them both but looked at Thor as she spoke. Thor looked as if he desperately wished to debate that fact but restrained himself, barely. Her restriction was one that Thor did not like but he could understand the reasoning behind it. It was to put Loki in a talking mood, and Thor was willing to allow that concession for the conversation to be productive. He'd already begun to try and curb the reflex already so to continue during this discussion was not true hardship.

Loki looked a little relieved until she turned to him. "Any fault regarding you parentage, and the sins involved in not telling you are the fault of Odin and Frigga, not Thor, or mine. You will need to remember that Thor himself was only just over three hundred years old when you were brought home, and had no cause to question your parentage any more than you did. Blaming him for Odin's mistakes and favoritism is unfair." She turned to Thor and stared at him in turn, "Nor would it be fair to judge Loki for his anger and resentment for being lied to for his entire life about not only his parentage, but also his race. Part of which was demonized your entire lives."

Thor was happier with this concession. He felt hurt that Loki had blamed him at all. He understood that Loki had likely felt threatened by Thor once he learned the truth due to his childish actions and vows to wipe out all of the Jötunn.

Loki was less enthused by the condition but like Thor understood that it was pointless to harp on the point. Thor hadn't known, and blaming him was unfair, but life itself was unfair. Loki had learned these lessons the hard way, however this was Kara's table, and he would not dishonor her attempt at peace by refusing the point just to hold on to his grudge and anger.

Both brothers looked at one another but in a unified voice said, "I concede the point." It was a ritualistic response to her 'request'. She wished it meant they were actually on the same page, but she knew better. Both brothers were unnerved by the fact that Kara was not planning on dealing with what could arguably be the foundation of the issues between them. Thor was surprised and heartened by the order for Loki to not push Odin's actions on himself. Both had fought for Odin's approval most of their lives. He knew that once he'd begun to bulk up in traditional Asgardian form, and Loki had not, Odin had openly favored him over Loki. When Loki had taken up his seiðr training as vigorously as his warrior training, Odin had shown some disdain for his choice, further causing resentment between the brothers.

Odin had certainly favored Thor so deeply that Loki had been ridiculed to his face by members of the court, the Einherjar, and even members of the staff when Thor or Odin were present. No one even blinked at such treatment for as long as Kara had been a member of the court, so it likely had been going on for much longer.

Loki could hold a grudge like no other in Thor and Kara's experience. He had a long memory and hoarded slights. He was the one to teach both about getting revenge. One such incident included complete humiliation of a mean-spirited noble who had targeted Kara for his bitterness. He had just become engaged to woman who had tried to bed Loki in order to get closer to Thor. The marriage was not to his liking and he'd been particularly mean to Kara that night. The noble who had insulted Kara had also been part of group that had tormented Loki during weapons training, and Loki was feeling particularly vindictive that evening. He was shamed during the evening feast by Loki, who had so completely humiliated both he and his fiance during the festivities that same evening that their once politically savvy match had to be moved outside the city of Asagarth to avoid further shame on their family houses. The two to this day lived on one of his family's provincial properties, rather than in the Capital as most nobles did.

Given the topics they needed to air out, and Loki's easily offended receptivity, Kara decided to start with the easier of the two to get the talking started.

"Thor, how do you feel about Loki, as a person, not a family member?" She asked in her best imitation of a courtroom lawyer manner.

Thor blinked as he tried to process the question. Having never seen a TV Court Drama, he was not prepared for Kara's manner, or the type of question she had asked. "I do not understand. To me he is my brother. I love him, nothing has changed that." He looked beseechingly at Loki as he answered. His puppy eyes were at full power Kara noticed, though Loki seemed unaffected. Either that or his crossed arms were blocking the power of the puppy look. Kara was certainly envious of that.

Loki's hands clenched in anger, hidden in the elbows of her arms, but he kept his face passive. By the rules he could not reply until Thor had answered the actual question. Kara acknowledged his response with a hand on Thor's hand which was laid flat on the table. "I understand that. I am not questioning that you do." Thor relaxed a little at that. He'd been concerned that she would not be so willing to allow questioning when he truly did not understand the question. It was considered to be the height of rudeness to be silent, mislead, or even avoid a host's questions. Guests were expected to be honest and do most of the talking when in a host's home, as payment for their shelter, food and company they provided.

Loki relaxed his fists as he began to understand her strategy. She was going to force them to acknowledge their slights against one another, and force the other to see the 'good', and the 'bad', of each other in order to build the alliance she was hoping they could forge. It was what he had longed for a century ago.

Thor had become so arrogant in the past that his dream of standing as an equal to Thor, but in the shadows as his trusted friend and brother had all but died a slow and painful death. The dream had been crushed under the hurt, jealousy, and anger that had built, century after century of being made to feel lesser, that treatment had nearly completely destroyed it. He had to hand it to Kara, by forcing them into a Hospitality Rite first, she had placed them in a situation they could not just walk away from. They were also forced to act in a civilized manner for the duration, or never be welcome in her home again, and face a huge loss of honor due to her rank.

Thor stared at Loki with a real look of concentration as he thought hard about what he truly wanted from him, and what he needed to say to him. "I do not understand you." He admitted quietly as he stared down at his hands resting on the table. "I do not understand why you always preferred your books and magic, to weapons and training." He raised his eyes focus deeply on Loki's now twitching face. Thor knew Loki was making an effort not to sneer in anger at him. He'd never made an effort to understand. Mother had hammered that point into his head at the same time she'd forced him to truly look at the actions of their… no his friends… he'd been at fault for that.

"And yet I know that it makes you happy. When you are happy there is no one I prefer to be near." His expression was wistful and the corner of his mouth drew up as he thought of their youth. "You are the greatest storyteller. A true wordsmith, and I do not mean that as an insult." He said holding his hand up in a gesture of peace when Loki's mouth pressed into a thin line and his arms tightened their hold across his chest.

"I can say that I have come to begin to learn and value such skills in the past year." His eyes flickered to Kara and noticed her small nod. It made him realize that he was answering her question in the manner she had expected, or at least was acceptable. He focused on Loki again. His expression was now guarded, but not hostile. "Your slights were not mine to dismiss. I wished to keep the peace and honestly thought the slights to be jests, and took part in them due to jealousy at your skills." He admitted in a quiet voice as he looked down with humility.

Loki's eyebrow rose in disbelief. It wasn't his time to respond yet so he kept his peace carefully. The urge to lash out at Thor was like an engrained reflex. It was hard to sit and listen to Thor as he stumbled over his words, trying to get the right context out.

"I do not understand how to fully answer your question Sister. I cannot divorce myself from the notion that Loki is my brother, my family and truly my best friend, even if he does not agree with my sentiments, as is his right." Thor finally said in a tone of defeat. "No matter what he has done, or been accused of doing. He is my brother and I will stand by him. I do not care that we are not blood. I have loved him all my life, I do not know how to quantify such a thing." He hung his head in shame. It was dishonorable to not abide by the decree to not call Loki his brother.

Kara nodded and gave Thor a smile. "Human's call that unconditional love." Her smile making him aware that in the context of his answer she was allowing him to bend the rule to its breaking point. Truthfully she was only allowing it because he was using the term to describe Loki's position in his life, not as a label being force on him.

"Aye," Thor sighed in agreement and was thankful she had not called him out on his breech. Though the question made it impossible to not acknowledge their past assertion that they had been at least raised to believe they were blood brothers. "That is as true a statement of my feelings as I could quantify."

Kara turned to Loki. "He speaks truth?" She asked him. Loki nearly bristled at her question, glaring at his own hands since doing so directly to a host would be a very huge breech, one that the seiðr of the Rite could punish him for.

Their conversation of a year ago about truth and his powers came to mind; his truth versus Thor's. For the purposes of this conversation though he had to admit that Thor was telling the truth. Something had greatly impacted Thor in the past few days, or the past year, possibly both. He had a feeling that 'something' was Kara's ire and their mother's interference.

"He does, as far as he knows." Loki admitted with tightly controlled anger.

Kara smiled at Thor and continued to question him, giving Loki a moment to rein in his rage. "Why did you allow the slight and taunts of your friends to spread beyond themselves to become vicious rumors and lies?" Her curiosity and bias did come out during this question, but the question needed to be asked, otherwise the three of them would never be able to come to an understanding. Kara needed this answer herself so she could understand more about their dynamic. She knew Loki's side, but she had never had the chance to hear Thor's side.

Thor sat back and pouted a little. "I honestly did not notice how widespread it had become, and how mean-spirited. I was selfish and self-centered enough for it to pass by my common sense. I never noticed just how far Loki had pulled away. He was always there when I needed him. He always had a plan to save us. It was embarrassing to my warrior pride, how often he had to save us with his mighty seiðr." Thor had the grace to blush at this admission and there was a touch of respect when he said the word mighty that caught Loki's attention. It was respect that Loki often didn't' hear when Thor had spoken of his magic before.

"It was emasculating, but I never stood by and allowed anyone to use a slur against Loki just for my own glory." He defended his past actions. "If any used them in my hearing I dealt with them harshly, including our friends. Though it was often more private, and that was a mistake I will never again make. If they publicly slander you again, I will also deal with them in public, this I do promise you, Loki." He stumbled slightly on his name, but the effort to not use the term 'My Brother' was noticed by both of them.

"Your friends," Loki hissed softly. His eyes glared fiercely, "not mine. They were never my friends truly, were they?" Loki spat rhetorically. As Thor had finally answered the question, Loki was free to respond.

Thor looked miserable and his eyes were once more downcast with shame and discontent with himself. "That is not so. Fandral and Volstagg were your true friends. Sif and Hogun less so I will admit, and certainly within the last century." He looked pleadingly to Kara. "Surely you know this, both of you. Volstagg has ever been respectful of you both, and never has his teasing gone afar. Fandral is easily swayed to go too far while deeply in his cups. He has never been cruel intentionally, and is always to one to bring up your accomplishments when we boast of our victories." He defended, his voice pleading with them to agree.

Kara nodded her head slightly. "I can attest to Volstagg's character in my own estimation, and interactions. I have never heard him disparage you beyond a simple tease as is the right of a friend." She directed her response to Loki. As it was her personal viewpoint she was only asking Loki to acknowledge that she had one, not that he agree with it.

Loki looked at her and relaxed somewhat. The airing of this point was in fact one Loki was comfortable debating. One he relished actually. It was a chance to finally get Thor to admit his friends were indeed culpable in their assignment of fault against him. "I will agree with that assessment. Volstagg is the least offensive of your companions, and I do not recall a time when he has ever been the one to offend without being lead on by the others." There of course had been times when if even without voice Volstagg had offended him. In the course of the amount of time they lived that would be unavoidable. Volstagg was least offensive, and those occurrences were rare. Considering the amount of time Loki had spent in the large warrior's presence that's saying quite a bit about Volstagg's ability to not irritate the easily offended Prince.

Kara smiled softly and looked thoughtful as she tried to assess Fandral. "I cannot say the same of Fandral as he and I rarely interacted, and what I saw was when he was often already into his cups." Thor looked as if he would protest, she raise her hand in peace. "I will agree that on the occasions that the tales were told, he often did point out Loki's accomplishments, though they were often ripped down by your other friends, or your own boasting immediately afterward." She pointed out.

Thor of course knew that Kara's opinions were based on century old habits. As an outsider her opinion was less tainted by inside jokes and showed a less sympathetic view of the jesting and boasting. It was the view of someone who would come to court and what they would see. That was something that made Thor wince as he thought of it. Loki's reputation throughout the Realms was tattered by the 'jests' of his friends. Loki would often be out in the Realms doing his duties as a Prince, without Thor and his companions. It was his own actions during these times that had saved any of his reputation with the other courts over the years. His age also was not held against him until recently as he was considered a child until two centuries ago, which to Thor's mind was recent.

"It does give one the impression that it was deliberately done so the others could tear me down." Loki said with an edge to his voice. "I will admit to at least that much. Volstagg offered true friendship, and give Fandral the past association of 'acquaintance of merit'." An acquaintance of merit was a formal classification of not quite friend, but certainly with potential to be.

Thor looked a little forlorn. "He was always the quickest to defend your ideas and battle plans." He replied with an air of disappointment and longing. It was as if he was mourning Loki's lost friendship with Fandral more than Loki himself was. "Surely you remember the time we…"

Kara got up and went to make breakfast, and watched from the counter as they began to talk about the past. She let them discuss the instances where Fandral and Volstagg had been true to Loki. As they spoke she watched as both Loki and Thor relaxed their stances a little more as the minutes past. They were peaceful and civil, so she placed food and drinks on the table without a word and allowed them to speak to each other, not daring to interrupt. There were no Poptarts, though Thor didn't seem to mind as she had made a very large stack of pancakes, cheeses, coffee, and bacon.

The forced civility required by the Hospitality Rite, made the conversation seem almost passive. In the past, their disagreements would have escalated into shouting by this point, usually led by Thor taking his friends side of an argument as gospel, and discounting Loki's point of view. Now it was Loki who was holding back while Thor made a huge effort to let Loki know he had heard his side and wasn't discounting it, but rather saw the intent of at least Fandral and Volstagg as less maligned than Sif. Thor had done a somewhat adequate job of defending both of his friends. His arguments were made stronger by the fact that he did not once try to defend Sif or Hogun, and in fact had used them to illustrate Fandral and Volstagg's defense of Loki on several occasions.

Loki finally raised his hand. "Enough. I concede your defense. He is often not as malicious as I once thought." Loki gave Thor a nod of acknowledgement and Thor looked dumbfounded.

"You- I- er- you agree with my assessment?" He questioned, completely shocked as to winning an argument with Loki at all.

"You think I should not?" Loki asked with a touch of amusement in his voice. "You have just spent the better part of an hour defending their honor."

"Point conceded." Kara jumped in quickly so as to stop them from ruining such a good moment. She didn't put it past Loki to provoke Thor now that they had reached an agreement, just to regain ground.

"An opinion of merit made stronger as you did not defend the others." Loki pointed out with a touch of pride in his voice. Thor had argued the point well. He had obviously been quoting their Mother often throughout their conversation. Likely using the same arguments she had. His lack of temper when Loki seemed to not be willing to listen at times, and made him think of yet another example, was helping Loki see that Thor had indeed changed, at least temporarily.

In the past, Thor had grouped the entire party as of one mind, one purpose, always wrapped around Thor's own opinion. When those opinions had clashed, Thor had always dismissed everyone else's as wrong, and therefore unworthy of being true.

Thor for his part now did look uncomfortable. "Mother spent a great deal of time pointing out the many rumors and slights that were started by Sif, and supported by Hogun." He at least had the honor to look Loki in the eyes when he said earnestly, "I am truly sorry for all the times I dismissed those slights. I had not seen how the rumors had spread so far and become accepted as truth, even by myself after a time."

Kara sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. At least he was admitting that much. Some of those rumors were still a concern. Loki's reputation was in tatters, not only on Earth, but on Asgard. If her plan was to work she needed both of them willing to protect each other as comrades in arms at the least, as true brothers once more at best. She was hopeful for a middle ground, but truly wished for the latter someday. It was too early now for such dreams of bonds to be reforged. If they were they were reforged too quickly they would be brittle. Kara would rather they took the time and made them truly as strong as the dwarven star metal uru.

Loki's eyes narrowed as he looked at him. "And yet on the cliff you called them imagined slights once more."

Thor blushed deeply in shame, but kept his eyes steady as he gazed into Loki's from across the table. "I have no excuse for saying such a thing. I was just so overcome to see you. I wanted so badly to bring you home, and have my brother by my side once more. I slipped in my speech into patterns spoken for centuries. I have no excuse." He repeated emphatically. "I will not ask forgiveness for that yet, as I have not earned it."

Loki nodded slowly. Inwardly he was surprised Thor was that self-aware of his mistake. He'd thought pointing it out now that Thor would have not remembered or defended his words. The lack of apology was also a surprise. Usually Thor just demanded people to forgive him, and he would forget he'd committed any offence within minutes. "I will concede; old, bad habits will take time to overcome, and some slips will happen, as long as you acknowledge them when they occur."

Kara was ecstatic but tried to keep herself in check. Loki noticed but other than a small smirk kept his comments to himself. Her plan would benefit him most, so he would try things her way. He didn't have a better plan at present. Thor's change in temperament was a huge part of that acceptance. It was puzzling to him that Thor could change this much in such a little window of time. Loki did not think his death would have affected Thor so deeply.

"Ok, moving on." Kara said to them, regaining their complete attention before Thor could start saying something too sentimental and ruin the mood when Loki objected to it. She turned to Loki this time, figuring it would be better to go back and forth, and to be fair Thor had been on the 'hot seat' for nearly an hour.

"You never wanted the throne of Asgard for yourself." She stated frankly. Thor looked like he was about to object so Kara lightly kicked him. Loki snorted as Thor winced and pouted as he rubbed his shin. "What were your plans, and are they still something you wish? If not, why?" She asked in the same court room tone of voice. The question sounded like one of the exam questions she's answered in a psychology course she had taken as an elective for her college credits.

Loki rolled his eyes. "You are very aware of what my plans were, and why they are no longer possible." He drawled with a touch of scorn. His non-answer was strictly for Thor's benefit. Unlike Thor's question, this was things she knew, with Thor she was as in the dark as he had been about what Thor truly thought.

Kara was unperturbed by his tone. In fact she was amused by his obvious evasion tactic. "Enlighten the room, besides I only know what my interpretation of your intentions were, not what your truth is." She countered.

Loki sniffed dismissively but sat up a little straighter as he gave his required answer. "My intentions, until a century ago, was to be Thor's; advisor, spymaster, representative off-world and a true confidant, once he became king. When your education required my participation, I changed my goals to include gallivanting across known space with you during your limited lifespan." He answered with a bored expression as he rested his cheek on his upright fist. Knowing what was expected of him and answering her as such was going to open old wounds he'd rather not pick at. He was not looking forward to the rest of this conversation.

"You never wanted the Throne yourself?" Thor asked, his puzzlement plain on his face and in his voice. All through their childhood it seems as if Loki had been trying to prove himself the better candidate to be King.

Loki sighed with disgust. "Never have I ever wished to be tied to Asgard in so intimate a role as being King would require." He gave Thor a hard scowling glare. "I would be hidebound to Asgard, never being able to Sky-tread to other worlds, to explore the mysteries of my seiðr, or view other mysteries, and bits of knowledge that struck my fancy." He boldly told him, his back straight a ready to spring should Thor dismiss his words. "Though rumors of me wanting and coveting the throne were prevalent before my 'death', it had never been my wish to rule Asgard." His glare told Thor that those rumors had started closer to home. The first time he could recall it becoming an issue had been soon after Sif had joined Thor in sparring practice. It was not a coincidence in Loki's mind.

Thor looked concerned as his mind too pointed a finger towards the Lady Sif as the first to bring such concerns to him. "Surely you would have been able to leave Asgard to do such things as King. I would never have stayed in Asgard every day, nor does the Allfather." Thor reasoned, his voice not accusing, but more curious as to the idea that Loki would be confined. He made Kingship sound more of a prison than an achievement and duty.

Loki and Kara both looked at Thor as if he was insane. He saw both their looks and knew immediately he had made a mistake once more in assuming something he should know. "What have I missed?"

"Thor," Kara began carefully. "Do you recall the conversation I had with you about the Odinforce?"

Thor looked abashed. "I do recall, and I ask about it once things settled. Father assured me that when the time came he would instruct me on the matter, but that now was not such a time."

Loki nearly choked and he tried to understand that. "He nearly made you king but had not instructed you at all on the 'Seiðr of Asgard'?" His eyes grew hard as ice as they flashed with pure anger. "I thought you knew and just disregarded the knowledge! Playing the fool! I did not realize you were such a fool!" Loki felt a stinging sensation reach his chest and he quickly reined in his speech. The Rite had not liked his breach of conduct.

Thor began to look angry but Kara's hand on his helped to steady him, as her hand was nearly crushing his. The warning made Thor refocus. "Father told me he would allow the bonds to transfer naturally, so as to not disrupt the flow of the magic. That I needed to fully control my aspect first before such bonds could form."

Loki sputtered in absolute speechless rage. "That is not how seiðr works Thor. You would have been king in name only! Odin would still have commanded the forces of Asgard, you would have been nothing more than a puppet, and when he passed on you would have buckled under the weight of a power you would not have been able to control!" Loki's anger was palpable as his magic swept around him. It wasn't as strong as it had been in past, showing how drained he was, but it still manifested itself around his body in a glittering shimmer of green and gold tinted air wisps. This time the sting was stronger, and Loki once more breathed deeply, trying to rein in his control.

"What Loki is badly saying," Kara butted in and shot Loki a glare that told him to shut up, "is that Odin was setting you up for failure as a king. Without control of the Odinforce, the defenses, the very fabric of Asgard would have begun to unravel without someone to hold the reins." Kara explained to him. "If you are unable to command the forces of Thunder, then the chances of you controlling the, for a lack of a better term, Thorforce, are non-existent." Loki choked on that word, but his rage was dying down and no longer fixated on Thor, instead the heat was banked and being lead to the person who had earned that rage.

Thor sat back and quietly contemplated the news. "Why would father do this?" His own voice sounding hurt and confused by the deception.

Loki's face betrayed his own disgust. "I believe he was waiting for you to learn to control your aspect before transferring the Odinforce to you. Though it makes no sense to have made you king before such a process had begun."

"Could it be he is worried about the succession?" Kara wondered out loud as she tried to think of any excuse that made a lick of sense. "His council was so reluctant to allow you to do your duty. Do you think they would have opposed Thor becoming king if Odin succumbed to the Odinsleep before he had become king?"

Thor and Loki both pondered her statement. "It is possible." Loki admitted slowly, he was surprised that hadn't occurred to him. "Their words were scornful not only of me, but also Thor, suggesting they might not have expected to be replaced if Thor were king. If they found us both 'wanting' they could have called for an actual 'Thing' to decide the matter, rather than the formality it was before the coronation last year with Odin overseeing it. However the 'Seiðr of Asgard' would have transferred to the rightful heir the moment of the Allfather's death."

"What words spoken?" Thor's confusion was clear, looking back and forth wondering which would answer him more fully so he could follow their conversation better. Thor didn't wish to think of the threat to his father's life that Odin had faced during Thor's banishment.

Loki spoke up first. "While I was Regent, the council refused to support me. Their words were… insulting at best, not only of me and my attempts at diverting the war, but also of you and your abilities. They were however more willing to listen to you as you should have been the 'rightful' heir. News of your banishment had not been made public, so they were of the opinion it did not matter, and my efforts to avert war was a waste of their time."

Thor began to look angrier as Loki spoke. "They would have been wrong."

"Agreed," Kara interjected. Both were on the same page as far as the council was concerned and that was a good place to end this part of the debate. "You still have not finished answering the question." She reminded Loki.

He rolled his eyes. "Once it became clear Thor had no wish for me to assume any of the roles I had been training for, I had abandoned those plans in truth, but I kept hope that I could still be trusted enough to advise one day."

"I would have wanted you in all those roles Bro- Loki." Thor caught himself as Loki's eyes had begun to narrow at the term brother. His tone was so honest and trusting that Kara wondered if Thor had changed so much that he'd re-written the past in his own mind. He seemed self-deluded if he thought for one second the Thor of a year ago would have trusted Loki half as much as he would require of Loki to be each and every one of those roles to him as King.

"Wanted, yes, but you would never have followed any of the advice I would have given without consulting your 'friends'," he sneered before given his head a quick shake to displace the anger that was against the rules of Hospitality. "As such it would have been ruled as 'self-serving' rather than being in the service of Asgard herself. As such you would have discounted my efforts until they were meaningless." He told him with a slight hint of scorn and disappointment. Kara certainly agreed with his assessment of the predicament he had been in. She'd seen all too often that exact scenario.

Thor tried to counter Loki's statement, but try as he might, he knew Loki was right. After several attempts to open his mouth to protest he finally hung his head and nodded his concedement. "You are likely right. Too often I listened to the others who said you wanted to rule over me." He looked thoughtful and quite saddened by the realization. "Is that why you attended all those boring meetings, and learned every bit of statecraft you could, instead of indulging in the 'Pursuits of Princes'?"

Loki rolled his eyes. He hated the Pursuits. Most were wastes of time in his estimation. "It was because I found the Pursuits of Princes to be as boring as you did the meetings." He countered with a roll of his eyes. "I have never liked to hunt Dragons for the sake of treasure… cursed treasure at that." He reminded Thor who once more nodded bashful of his ignorance of seiðr. "I have always found more pleasure in the statecraft that served Asgard's people. You protected the people by adventuring, I by negotiating treaties and trade deals."

"There is honor and respectable goals in both pursuits." Kara reminded both men, not wanting the conversation to become a dick-measuring exercise. "Both serve Asgard, and both serve the people. It is the reason the Pursuit of Princes exists." The exercise of the 'Pursuit of Princes' was an acknowledged right of Princes. It was also a formal way of saying they were 'going out adventuring, and meeting the people, while doing some good for the Realm', or basic statecraft that allowed learning skills needed to be King without risking wars and hard feelings.

Loki nodded to her point. "With you being the 'perfect warrior' of Asgard, there was really no need for me to not indulge my inclinations for courtly intrigue." He smirked almost playfully. There was more amusement in his expression than scorn. Something Thor had not seen in a very long time.

"I see." Thor muttered as he once more looked thoughtful as he contemplated the opinions of others over the centuries verses the answers Loki was giving him now.

"Once Kara's education required me to assist Mother, I grew intrigued by her view of the Universe." He explained with a fond smile sent to Kara. "Unlike us she had such a fresh view of it all. At the time we assumed she would have a limit time frame to view it, and so I had planned to spent the first century of your reign with her, travelling the Realms, and base our adventures out of Midgard. We could then have enjoyed the limited time she had, and I could not be considered a rival in your court." He frowned deeply as he thought of the changes to those plans three years earlier when Kara had regressed a year and stopped aging. "Once it became clear that she would not be limited in time, I was then confronted with the fact that you were not ready to reign, nor did you respect the forces of seiðr I thought you would inherit."

Loki paused expecting Thor to interrupt. Instead Thor sat there looking deep engrossed to Loki's plans and story. "My plan to delay your coronation was just that, a delaying tactic, so that the Allfather would correct the lack of training. Once your training was complete, he would then crown you king and I would fully have supported you in any capacity I was allowed. That was the intent of the intrusion into the Vault, nothing more."

Kara waited for a moment but when neither was inclined to say anything more she asked, "And now?"

Loki shook his head with a thoughtful frown on his face. Kara was not even trying to be subtle at this point. "I still have no plans to rule, unless it is in a regent position, one that can be given over as soon as possible as I do have the skills to support the 'Seiðr of Asgard' without accepting it as my own. If it were possible, I would not return to Asgard at all. I would stay here and make an attempt to restitute the damage wrought by my time under the control of the Chitauri's master." He admitted with a sad look. When in his right mind, Loki was not fond of wholesale slaughter, and too many had died during his time under the control of 'The Leader'. While not responsible for the deaths, he still felt a responsibility to atone for his actions. A feeling he felt sure Agent Barton would share.

The power of the scepter allowed for free thought, but not free will. Your opinion was yours, but you had no will to fight the effect when the scepter was close. The will of the scepter's true master was all, and you tried to fulfil its needs when under its direct control. Now free of the power he was disgusted with himself for falling under the sway of the magic.

Thor nodded his understanding and gave him a wishful frown. "I would leave you here to do so Br- Loki, however my orders were to return with; the Tesseract, you, Kara, and The Destroyer, in that order." This time Loki did not seem angered by Thor's near slip. He was more intrigued by the order of the orders.

"Which leads us all to the final topic I wished to address," Kara stated as she sat back and picked up her coffee mug. Her coffee had gone cold so she took a moment to reheat it with her heat vision. "Loki can you ensure our privacy please." She took a sip while she waited for Loki to cast his privacy spell to ensure their conversations from this point would be private from Heimdall, Odin or any other magical that was attempting to scry for them at the moment.

He looked as if he slowly blinked to the others as he cast the spell. "It is done." He told her. Sometimes Loki's casting was so smooth one could not feel it as his spells came into effect.

Kara threw him a grateful smile, "Are we a team now? And do we agree to confront the charges that will be laid against Loki together?"

Thor sat back confident in his own convictions. "Aye, I have seen enough to ensure my testimony for Loki. I would take great offense at any who would accuse him of treason against Asgard for the actions here on Midgard. I will stand for him against all, including Father or his Council."

Loki looked back and forth between them. "Do we even know what the charges would be?"

Kara smirked with bitterness. "They cannot charge you with anything while you sat on the throne as Regent without charging Mother as an accomplice for placing you on it."

Thor snorted with annoyance and crossed his arms defiantly. "There were grumbles about the fact you destroyed the Bifröst. Grumbles including that it was too bad you were dead and escaped punishment for doing so." His ire at the words and rumor made Kara hopeful.

"Your actions would not have destroyed the Bifröst, would it?" Kara asked Loki curiously. She had never considered if those action could have damaged the device. It had never been used as a weapon in that regard on purpose. It had done great damage to other worlds in history which was why the effects were known, but actually using it as a weapon to fully destroy a planet had never been done.

Loki shook his head slowly. "It was not designed for such long periods of use, hence why it could destroy other worlds if left connected." He explained softly, his remorse hidden under his own bravo and stiff posture. "It would not have damaged the Bifröst in any permanent manner as the Asgardian side of the bridge is the creation point and is completely stable." His voice reflected his remorse for those actions. Now that time had passed and he was now faced with the truth that he was at least half Asgardian, and still a prince (even if it was of a different Realm) he was much more calm and beginning to accept the new reality of his life.

"I have heard no such rumors of anyone being upset at the 'reasoning' behind the attempt." Thor flashed a sorrowful frown at Loki. He knew that Asgard's bias against Frost Giants was going to sting for quite some time, even if it was only half of Loki's parentage. The racial hatred was so ingrained that the people often 'forgot' that many citizens, including the Allfather himself, were half Jötunn. "Only that the Bridge was destroyed, making trade difficult at best." Thor admitted, still more than a little offended by such talk even being allowed. It had been his actions that had actually done the damage, and yet that fact had been easily brushed aside and all faults were laid on Loki's 'grave'.

Trade for the most part had slowed for a few months as new trade lines of ships were acquired to transport goods normally dispatched by the Bifröst. It wasn't as if Asgard had been in any danger of starvation or collapse. It just often took longer for certain goods to be delivered.

Kara took another sip of her coffee, trying to keep her temper in check. "We don't have enough information to know what you'll face Loki." She expressed her concern with a note of regret.

Thor looked uncomfortable. "The council was present when Father sent me here to retrieve you. So they know you were at the head of the army of Chitauri. I do not believe the knowledge of your survival was made public, though the court might now know." He confided in his siblings. "There was talk of War Crimes against the Nine, and Treason before I left. It is possible the Council would try to push for a trial." He warned them with a hint of anger at the men who advised the Allfather.

Loki and Kara both shared an unimpressed look. "When were you planning on telling us that?" Kara managed to ask civilly. It was hard to not blame Thor for Odin's actions, which is why she added that to her requirements for this talk. It was as much for her as it was for Loki. Thor did have a tendency to miss what was important, and forget to pass on such important facts, such as the Chitauri army's existence and now these charges.

Thor sighed and slumped back in his chair. "I had been waiting for such a moment as this, after our altercation on the Helicarrier. I had no wish to air our private matters in a public forum. I also wished for a chance to try and speak civilly." He pleaded with them both. "I have no wish to let either of you go. We have never been close." He admitted to Kara and he leaned forward and took her hands in his. "But I would wish that we have a chance to make up for that lost time as we are, and I hope we will always be family to each other." His sincerity as always was present in his body language and his open expression. He truly wished for her to be part of his life and family.

Kara gave him a nod in recognition of his declaration and his unspoken request. She placed her hand meaningfully on his shoulder and recited. "Of one blood; through war and peace, together I stand with you, my brother."

"Of one blood; through war and peace, together I stand with you, my sister." Thor replied. His face lit with a brilliant smile filled with contentment. He turned his eyes to Loki but he just stared back blankly. Thor sighed loudly with disappointment but did not push him. He understood it was too soon for Loki. Kara stepped back and also turned to include Loki, but she could feel his resistance to make such an oath right now and also just looked at him without any expectations.

"Altercation?" Loki asked with a raised brow, ignoring the sibling's vow as if it had not just happened. His fingers twitched with the urge to do some mischief, he knew what he was about to hear was not going to endear Thor to himself.

Kara rolled her eyes in response to Loki's question. "I might have over-reacted to him saying you were adopted." She sighed as Loki stared at her with a somewhat amused look.

"Might have?" Thor snorted with mirth. "I believe that to be a fib sister."

Loki couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Kara's understatement did twig his aspect as a mild lie.

"Perhaps a showing of the incident will clear up any misconceptions." Brainiac suggested and over Kara's groan of protest it proceeded to show the incident on the entire scene. The footage had Thor's bluing face really close to the camera in the Conference Room as Kara raged at him. The scene proceeded into the conversations about maturity and age. Loki got a particular chuckle from watching Fury and the others react to their ages.

"Daddy issues?" Loki asked her with a smirk.

"Mama's boy." Kara countered with a smirk of her own. Their banter brought to mind the conversation Loki had with Thor right before his failed coronation. There was no heat in the exchange, just playful teasing.

The three were quiet for a moment. "I will not allow them to place you on trial Loki." Thor declared softly. "If the humans can see that Agent Barton was not responsible for his actions without a Soul Forge, then the Asgardian Court will see it also with the evidence from it."

Kara growled with aggravation at the situation. "Too bad Asgardian Law trumps local jurisdictions for its own citizens, because Loki can't be found guilty here." It had always bothered her that Asgard was so high handed with their laws. If Asgard didn't want to punish their own citizens they wouldn't allow others to apply their laws to do it. Loki would be innocent here, but Asgard's laws superseded Midgard's since Midgard was a protectorate and had not be given self-governing right as far as Asgard was concerned. Asgardian law was always so arbitrary and nothing like the systems used in the Western World of Midgard. The King's word was law, much like Kings of the 'Middle Ages'. So what was a crime for one person was not always a crime for another. It depended on the King's mood and interpretation of the law in that place and time.

If Odin was trying to appease his council he could very well throw Loki under the preverbal bus. He'd done so before. Several times Loki had been punished for Thor's or even others misdeeds. Other times he'd punished Loki for things that Thor had done previously, and had been forgiven for without even a chastisement. Several of those times had been for political reasons. Loki often had stepped on the toes of the council when he had first begun attending meetings by pointing out mistakes, or arguments that were detrimental to Asgard's position. Those early clumsy attempts at helping made certain spiteful members more likely to call for his head on simple slights whenever they could, even to this day.

Kara's plan was to make Odin have to decide between; support of his council, whom Kara was convinced would push for Loki's imprisonment or execution, or the support of both his heirs. Even if imprisoned, if both Thor and Odin were unable to rule, Loki would have a shot via a Thing to become King. With Thor's support Odin would have no choice but to either; kill Loki, or do the right thing and release him. That way Odin also didn't incur the wrath of all three of them. As it stood now Thor would pardon Loki's conviction the second Odin fell into the Odinsleep once more, and return him to the Family. Once that was done it would be considered unforgivable for Odin to reinstate the punishment once he awoke.

Loki shook his head. "Nothing will stop those old men from having their show trial, but they dare not execute me. It wouldn't be the first time I've been held accountable for Thor's actions. In this case if the Allfather really is trying to place Thor on the throne, the last thing he can afford is for Thor to be held accountable for the destruction of the Bifröst." He smirked with scorn. "But charging me for its destruction has its own issues as I was Regent when I began the action, and I did not actually destroy the bridge."

Kara chuckled darkly. "He also can't afford to go against all of us. Remember that Loki. Those old men or us, who is the Allfather going to truly side with?" She looked to Thor. "This is why it is so important that we all stand together. So justice can be served, and so that Asgard has the best chance to stand strong and not fall into Ragnarök eventually."

Thor looked determined. "If Asgard wishes to continue as she does, with heirs and a future king, they will accept our testimony. Those spiteful old men will feel my great displeasure if they try to stand against us."

Loki turned to Kara. "And with your lifespan now extended, Ragnarök might be a long time away, and not an imminent as some feared." He reasoned. "They cannot afford to create the circumstances that will ensure it comes. It will mean their deaths if they choose to make you the center of the coming prophecy."

Kara grimaced darkly at the thought that it was she in this universe that held the key to Ragnarök. Knowing the tale of Barry and her own Earth's Asgard, she was not eager to become this universe's Loptr and take his mantel as the reason for Ragnarök. "It would be nice to not be at each other's throats during the interim wouldn't it?"

Both Thor and Loki nodded solemnly. The two gave each other a measured nod. Thor couldn't help but smile brightly, and Loki rolled his eyes before he shook his head with disguised relief. "Sentiment," He mumbled as he turned back to sit in his seat, his posture much more relaxed than it had been earlier.


	9. Preparing to Return Part I

SoA –Part 3

Chapter 9 – Preparing to Return Part I

Loki had been warmed by their support, not that he showed it openly, but even Thor felt a wave of hopefulness that saturated his entire being, making him feel empowered.

Kara felt it in her bones that her plan would work. Asgard would stand tall with the three of them united, as long as she could hold the three of them together. It would be a long road to keep both Thor and Loki on the same path together. Both were headstrong and not prone to following others. They were both born leaders, both full of charisma, and both were great warriors. They had such opposite tactics and opinions on many subjects which is where her ability to mediate between the two would land her.

Thor's leadership was built on likability and strength of character. His bright charisma drew people to him. People wanted to follow him, battle beside him, and bask in his glory. His strength was massive, not just in a physical sense, but also in confidence that radiated out from him. It was rather ironic given that he was the Thunder God that his personality was like a noonday sun that shone brightly in the sky.

Loki's was a quiet strength, and whisper-soft, a seductive type of magnetism. He was quiet and subtle, which made it easy for him to slip under the guard of anyone, even foes who knew him. People listened when he spoke. They might not remember later that it was Loki who had planted an idea. They did hear him, and even Thor often found himself following his lead. His tricks and mischief often endeared him with the populous in a way Thor's overshadowing presence could not match. While Nobles hated his intelligence as it was often pitted against them, the commoners loved him for his works that offered the communities the help and services they required. Many of the trade deals Loki had a hand in, had leveled the economic fields, making commerce profitable for the people, or increased the abundance of everyday goods, making it easier to obtain the daily basics. Loki was the brightest moon that shone on the darker places and lit the way for those in need of a light in darkness, or times of difficulties.

Though she did not know it, Kara's own light was like the stars to the people of Asgard. They gave little light, but they also were the points of hope and dreams. She was the girl from nowhere, and yet the one who would help anyone in need regardless of rank. She was a warrior who could outshine the brightest of suns, but never tried to overshadow them. A light that helped people navigate their way, but never tried to force them to follow her. She was a quiet light that was always there in the background, if needed by the people.

Shortly after breakfast Kara spent her needed half hour in the Soul Forge to completely erase the damage done by the scepter and a few other minor injuries she had accumulated in the past year. Afterwards she felt cleaner, and rested. Thor and Loki had stayed in the room with Kara. Unlike when Loki was healing, she wasn't required to be unconscious. She oversaw the brothers as they spoke of the state of Asgard.

The news was a bit grim, the Realms were in a bit of a revolt. Without the Bifröst to instantly put troops on the ground if needed, some of the petty warlords and larger marauding bands were causing disturbances all around the Nine Realms, including Svartalfheim, known as the Dark World. Even on that desolate world there were some pirates using it as a base of operations for their thieving.

"Your friends must be revealing in all the blood and glory all these revolts are producing." Loki had bitterly chuckled as he took in all the news.

"They are not available to partake in the battles of late." Thor looked away from them both and stare at the wall.

"What does that mean?" Kara asked curiously. She turned her head from staring at the ceiling, the only really comfortable position to hold her head while lying down within the Soul Forge. She had to twist her neck tightly to see either of them since they were seated on opposite sides of the Soul Forge. It was a precaution Kara had insisted on, or else Loki had to give up his tiny daggers. Loki had a tendency to stab Thor with them when he was being annoying and Kara didn't want to clean up any blood later.

"Don't tell me they were actually held accountable for their actions." Kara questioned suspiciously.

"The Warriors Three, and Lady Sif, were brought before the court by Mother for the actions against Asgard's Regent. The main testimony was your letter." Thor quietly explained for the benefit of both Loki and Kara. He looked rather uncomfortable while doing so. "Their sentences cannot be lifted without the permission of the Allmother or you Kara. I am sure you will be added to that list once we return." He quickly added to Loki.

Loki waved away the concern or the possible offence he could have taken over the oversight that Thor had on his face. "It is not as if they could have expected my survival to grant such a pardon. The dead forgive no one." He added with a sigh as he enjoyed a sip of his coffee. Like Thor he deeply enjoyed the rich flavor of coffee. It helped that Kara also kept some of the best beans on the planet in her kitchen at the Fortress.

Kara snorted from her position flat on her back once more, resting her neck by staring straight up at the crystalized ceiling. "Is that what all those letters from Mother were about? Forgiving the lot of them?"

Thor quickly shook his head. "Nay, Mother will not hear of it, nor allow them to even be in her presence." He assured her. "Only Volstagg was allowed to be placed on less restrictive duties so he could be home with his family at night, instead of working the evening guard shifts as the others had been ordered. Hogun has decided to return to Vanir in retirement rather than face the sentencing. Mother made sure he could not be employed as even a family guard. I have not heard from him since he left." Thor admitted with a touch of sadness. While he agreed they deserved punishment for once again disobeying orders, and for the position that had placed Loki in while regent, he did still mourn the friendship he'd had with the companions.

Kara's face fell. Of all the Warriors, only Volstagg was worthy of being forgiven in her estimation. Unlike the others he had understood and backed away from his wrongful actions. Volstagg was a good man overall, just a little lack witted and easily lead. She was happy Frigga had allowed his punishment to be eased for both his family and his own sake.

"I honestly thought they would not be punished at all." She admitted with a deep frown as she continued to stare at the ceiling. Her letter had been very harsh and damning. The Allmother, while she held sway in the court and over Odin, did not usually interfere with the affairs of the warriors. She honestly expected Frigga to feel sad, but to ignore the letter, and in time forget it as she always seemed to forget every slight or insult against her or Loki. If she was being fair Frigga had also ignored a few slights against Thor too, but they were so rare it was hard to recall any particular event that wasn't somehow blamed on Loki eventually after the fact.

Loki had raised a brow. "I too agree that Volstagg should not have been as harshly treated as the others, as he did turn from his path once he realized how bad a choice it was. It was enough to have earned a lighter sentence, by my own hand. However he did disobey my command, which in turn lead to an assassination attempt on the Allfather. It is good that he shared some of the punishment for that. I think that sentence a fair one. He was not discharged from his livelihood, and has likely spent more time with his children in the past year than he has in the past five." Loki estimated based on how often the Warriors and he had been dragged off on adventures.

Thor looked down at his hands in his lap. "I will admit it took Mother several weeks to convince me that such a punishment was indeed required for my friends." His face was white with shame. Loki rolled his eyes while Thor wasn't looking, but Kara was trying hard to be neutral as a host was required so she held her tongue. She knew the only reason the two hadn't come to blows earlier had been due to the enforced Hospitality Rite. There had been several times where their conversation could have gone so very differently.

Loki was rightfully defensive, and almost paranoid in regards to Thor's stances on their past. Thor had been dismissive, even as recently as just two days ago. Old wounds would take time, and trust to heal. Thor had to regain that trust first. Loki would need to allow Thor a little leeway in trying to express himself properly. Words just did not come easily to the older brother. Loki at least knew this, and in the past had tried to take Thor's words in the least offensive way possible. Kara hoped he had not broken that habit.

Thor had been just as defensive, and could have been as easily provoked during the conversation. He had been concerned that Kara would automatically align herself with Loki on each point. When she had not, he'd been almost insultingly surprised. His willingness to reconcile with not only Loki, but Kara as well after their altercations over the past few days showed a maturity that Kara had not thought Thor possessed. The expressions on Loki's face when Thor hadn't been looking during the conversation, had suggested Loki hadn't thought Thor had the maturity to be this reasonable either.

The Soul Forge began to power down as the cycle finished its healing and Kara was able to sit up. She stood as her armor appeared on her body. The hole where the scepter had pierced it was still there, though the skin under it was now as blemish free as a baby's bottom.

"Now that we are all healed and rested, I suggest we continue the clean-up efforts for New York." Kara told them. She rolled her shoulder's trying to loosen up the muscles that had tensed during healing. The flat surface of the table wasn't padded with the gel like the chairs. It was semi-hard so the healing could work quickly.

"Most of the fires are out now as the fire teams have been able to reach the remaining fires. A few fires are still being fed by oil heating tanks and other types of heating that the Firefighters are allowing to burn out." Brainiac offered to help them in their planning efforts. "There is however a great deal of large debris, the largest of which are the 'whales' covering Park Avenue especially. Three of them are laying near Grand Center Station where Kara killed them as they came through the portal, and three others are nearby where they crashed later, also one further up Park Avenue."

Loki sighed and put his hand up slightly to volunteer. "I believe I am best suited for making the carcasses disappear."

"What would you do with them,… Loki?" Thor once more caught himself. Loki just shook his head with exasperation and rudely cleared his throat before answering. He was annoyed, but he'd give Thor credit for the correction, but only to himself. He wasn't about to show Thor any encouragement yet.

"I will open a portal to the Realm of the Dead and guide them through it." He told them with a weary look, knowing how taxing the magical task would be. "It will take much energy, but it is the most fitting spot. Death herself would not object to them being placed there, and it will keep the advanced bio-mechanical technology out of the hands of the humans."

Kara and Thor nodded solemnly. "That is very fitting. We don't want to offend any of the Queens of the Dead if we can avoid it." Thor added softly. "They are easily slighted, and your plan is very wise."

Loki and Kara both nodded slowly. No one knew Death's true name, or if she was one being, or if parts of her were in each of her many retainers that served as the Queens of the Dead in the many Realms. It was hard to understand Death. It was best to avoid bringing her attention to you by being disrespectful.

"Thor and I can work on moving the burned out cars and other vehicles out of the way so emergency trucks can get through the streets and the human salvage cleaners can get the human made debris out of the way." Kara suggested. Thor gave a quick nod. "I don't know what the governments are going to want to do about the alien tech, but I imagine SHIELD is already on it."

"That is correct Kara." Brainiac told them. "Tony Stark, SHIELD, and the Pentagon have already helped to create a new branch for the confiscation and appropriation of any alien tech." He paused as he verified some information. "The local contractors that normally do the cleanup in that area of New York have been notified."

Kara nodded and started thinking about anything else that would need her and Thor's help more than anywhere else.

"Aye this way Loki is getting the lion's share of the credit as well." Thor added with a small grin. "This is to the benefit of us all to have Loki's name cleared in the public domain."

Kara nodded and smiled at Loki. "You ok with that _My Loki_?"

Loki's expression softened at the use of his Kryptonian nickname. "Only because it would cause you distress to _not_ cause Director Fury a heart attack if we clear my name even further with the public, _My Kara_." He laughed genuinely and clapped her on the shoulder as she smiled back at his light jest.

Kara impulsively grabbed Thor and pulled him in and hugged them both to her, forcing them to embrace on the other side across from her as she pulled them tightly together with her overwhelming strength. "I know it's going to take time, but the three of us together would be such a force to guide the humans. Fate would have to bow to us, not us to them."

Loki sighed and squeezed her waist. "Don't tempt the Ladies Three." He warned her softly, "But yes, we could guide them away from a Realm Cataclysm the likes of which the Nine has never seen before." He agreed softly.

Thor was surprised by their words but the idea of helping the humans made him smile. "I hope one day soon we can be truly such a team once more." Thor smiled hopefully to Loki. "I know you need time for me to prove my worth so I can regain your trust. Ask and if I am capable of doing so I will do anything to prove my worth to you."

Loki felt the outside force of hope and peacefulness wash over him. This time he was close enough to feel it emanate from Kara herself. It was something to take note of for now. It was a clue to her powers and aspect. "One day I hope so too." He found himself admitting, almost against his will. He looked down at Kara with a small frown. If she was the source of this optimism she wasn't doing so on purpose he knew, but it was still annoying to be this optimistic about the future. A future he couldn't speak of yet.

Just before they left Loki made it a point to ask Kara to consider bringing Barton and Selvig up to the Soul Forge for healing. "I can't explain just how much, even after the 'recalibration' the scepter's power still had over my thoughts until it was gone. It was so subtle. They too would benefit greatly from the healing powers of the Forge."

Kara nodded and promised, "I will. I told Barton already that I would. Selvig might be a harder sell. He didn't want anything to do with Thor, or me the first time we popped into his life." She explained to him.

"Still he would need it more than even Agent Barton. The Tesseract had taking a liking to Selvig, and it spoke to him in a way it didn't speak to anyone else." Loki admitted with an uneasy look. The way the way the Infinity Stone reacted to Selvig was extremely alarming. It was almost as if the Stone was trying to seduce the man.

"It spoke to him on a much deeper level than the others, I am unsure if even the Soul Forge would be enough to save him." He admitted softly, so as to not be overheard by Thor. "The stone is so powerful, and it had much time to bond with the man. Too much time I believe."

"What about Barton? Did it like him?" Kara's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise as she asked about her friend. The legends about the Infinity Stones were so many and varied that it was impossible to tell lies from truth. There were so many conflicting stories. Personally Kara would like to see them all destroyed. But so far only Odin's father Bors had succeeded in destroying one, and no one knew how he had done so.

Loki shook his head, "She did not care for your agent friend any more than needed. He was a tool to her. Selvig was more." He paused as he considered his words. "He was a student, one she wanted to show the universe to. If she did, he'll be quite mad. No device will be able to make him 'unsee' what he has seen and learned by her grace."

The conversation left her feeling a bit adrift. Selvig hadn't wanted to get involved with Asgard, and now here he was, possibly the most damaged of all the survivors. She was also unsettled by the way Loki was making the stone sound alive and thinking for itself. Kara was still adrift in her own thought as they gathered together to return for more work in clearing the city.

Loki teleported them to Central Park, where they split up, Loki went to the largest pile of the Whale bodies and began to clear the area of people so he could work his magic. Police were quick to help when he told them his plan to move the dead bodies to a 'graveyard of suitable size'.

Thor flew back to the local hospital and began clearing as much of the roads around it as he could. The police from the evening before were happy to see him again and asked after Supergirl and his brother. He gladly told them they were all restored, rested, and working in other locations around the city. News reporters covering the hospital were kept back by police but recorded his every move.

Kara started at about midway down Park Avenue, where the destruction began, and worked her way towards the Stark Tower. She was tempted to cremate the bodies of the Chitauri as she went but she worried about the people breathing in the ash. Instead she tried to pile the bodies into groups on each block. She hoped Loki would be able to send them on to the same graveyard later on. If not, the piles could be picked up by the human agencies and taken somewhere to be burned. There was plenty of SHIELD agents present along the route, guarding the alien tech from passing civilians.

Kara had been working for an hour, well aware of the news helicopters and ground crews that were watching her when Tony rocketed down from the top of Stark Tower.

"Are you trying to make 'The Avengers' look bad Blue?" He sassed her as he landed in front of her and popped his helmet so they could talk face-to-face.

Kara laughed as she put down the burned out bus she had been moving from the center of the street to the right-hand side. "Well if you want to bask in the glory, you have to help with the clean-up in the full view of the press." She winked at him.

"Fury was going ape-shit at first when he saw the footage from last night." Tony chuckled along with her. "He was yelling about us needing to arrest Loki. His goons stormed the tower right after you left to gather the scepter and Loki."

Kara snorted with a mischievous grin. "I am sure you pointed out how bad that would be."

Tony shook his head. "I didn't get a chance to. Hawkeye and Capsicle were in their faces too quick. Though Widow did surrender the scepter to the goon forces that showed up with Senator Peirce in the lobby of Stark Tower."

Kara's brows shot up in surprise. "Hawk defended Loki?" She wasn't surprised at all that Widow had handed over the scepter. A weapon that could hurt her would be kept under a very heavy guard.

Tony snorted and shook his head. "No, he pointed out he wasn't suicidal enough to take you on. Capsicle was the one to tell Fury that Loki was showing signs of mind-control and how he responded to your Mohamad Ali impersonation." He chuckled and Kara began to laugh with him. She took a moment to wipe her forehead. The dust, soot, and dirt were thick and coated everything she had been touching and moving. While she wasn't sweating she was filthy.

"Did JARVIS show him the footage of his eyes?" She asked with some curiosity. She wondered if Fury would believe the footage. It would be better for her and Loki if Fury was really on their side, and not being forced to play nice due to public opinion. That could change with the wind and Kara refused to depend on it long-term.

Tony snorted and nodded slowly. "Yup. Hawkeye looked a bit too pleased while re-watching the punch from hell, but can't blame him too much for that all things considered." Tony shrugged. He knew he would have had a hard time forgiving Loki if the scepter had worked on him, and he'd been forced to attack Kara because of it. Knowing he wasn't in control either just made it easier for him to accept what he had done.

"I'm pretty sure we had him thinking about it, and then the news was blasting the image of the reporter being handed that kid by Loki. Fury just hung his head and started muttering about needing both his hands and stormed off." Tony looked a bit confused as he thought about that. Even at the time the statement hadn't made much sense to him.

"So he hadn't even seen the PR releases at that point huh?" Kara snickered as she imagined Fury's defeated look.

Tony scowled and shot her a truly annoyed glare. "About that? Where did that Press Release come from? Pepper was impressed and wants to hire whoever it was to deal with my shit from now on. She said 'I'm too busy to clean your image anymore, Tony. Find this person and get them for me.'" He threw up his hands. "It's what I pay her for!"

"Actually it's not. She's your CEO now, not your publicist." Kara reminded him still chuckling.

Tony waved her comment away. "She still has the role as part of the CEO package. I made sure it stayed in her contract."

Kara rolled her eyes. She'd figured Tony had done something like that. Pepper was used to doing the job so it hadn't occurred to her to say no at the time. Kara was glad she was putting her foot down about it now. While Tony wasn't as much of a news disaster he'd been before, he still had his moments, like eating a donut in the donut sign last year when he'd been dealing with his reactor blood poisoning issues.

"Tell her you were too late, but I'm willing to time share her since Loki, Thor, and I don't need half as much PR as you do." Kara replied smugly while pretending to buff her nails on her shoulder. "Plus I already gave her a raise to keep working for me." Tony concentrated for a moment before he caught on to who it had to have been.

"It was Betty Boop?" Tony hooted and actually slapped his armored hand on his leg. "Your little lab rat Betty Boop wrote that little piece of fiction?"

"To be fair, Darcy isn't a lab rat, she's a Political Science major." She reminded him of Darcy's actual degree specification. "As far as PR goes, it's her wheelhouse." She added. She was proud of her friend. She had read the situation and ran with it to make Kara's life better.

Tony looked a little confused; he'd never actually known that much about the lab rat that Kara had 'adopted'. He had just been glad she had a friend who was better than he was to pull her out of the worst of her depression last year. "How did a poli-sci end up in the middle of the New Mexico desert during an alien invasion?"

"Divine intervention." She deadpanned. Kara had wondered about that to over the past year. It seemed too coincidental. The one person on the planet Kara was pretty much guaranteed to meet, in the form of Jane Foster, since she was the only person on the planet on the fast track to create a wormhole on Midgard. That 'insane scientist' just so happened to get the only poli-sci major on the planet not interested in regular 'human' politics as her intern. Added to that was the fact that it was an internship no one else applied for. What were the chances?

"Your mother, or was it someone else pulling strings?" Tony prodded her playfully.

Kara rolled her eyes. "It would not surprise me. We don't joke about strings on Asgard though Tony." She reminded him sharply. Strings of Fate always brought to mind _The Norns_ and their ability to cut the life thread of those they deemed unworthy or that had angered them. That was something that all Asgardians avoided doing as a cultural tradition. Never test _The Norns_.

Tony laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Ok so listen up. Capsicle is feeling left out so he wants to come out and play in the sandbox with you. Me, I'm all for sitting up there and laughing as you so called 'gods' clean up the mess for us pesky humans while I am sipping on my fifty year old single-malt scotch." He scowled at the tower. "The others are not so inclined, and I got pushed, literally out the door I might add, to ask you if we can play with you."

Kara laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Aww, that's cute. I would love to have a play date with The Avengers. Tell them to come out and play, but stay away from Loki. He's doing some powerful magic that might get them sucked into a vortex to the Realm of the Dead. They can come and play with me and Thor. We're clearing the streets for the Fire Departments, and EMTS. That way they can get to rescuing people and getting people to hospitals." She told him getting serious at the end of her statement.

"Realm of the Dead?" Tony sputtered. "Seriously?"

Kara nodded slowly. "The Whales were alive. They need to go somewhere, and we aren't going to risk offending the Queens of the Dead. So Loki is opening portals to their Realm and letting the fresh carcasses through. Laying them to rest on her shores is considered a rite of burial so she will not be offended by us doing that for the carcasses."

"Huh," Tony grunted. "Is that what we saw him doing with the three in front of Grand Central about fifteen minutes ago?" He wondered aloud as he recalled what the group had seen from the penthouse. "The portal looked different from the one yesterday so we weren't sure what we were seeing."

"Looked more like a Stargate wormhole and less like a lightning storm?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"Pretty much," He nodded. In fact it had looked quite a bit like the portal that Barry Allen had come through from the few frames of footage he had seen from that event.

"That's what dimensional portals normally look like." She explained as she looked back down the street to see at least one more Whale had been transported since the three fifteen minutes before. Kara was concerned Loki was moving awful fast for someone who hadn't fully recovered all his magic yet.

"Yeah, the Whales were there then they sort slipped into the portal and poof, gone." Tony explained with hands waving and sound effects. "Then the portal just fell into itself, like a whirlpool closing."

"It takes a while to open those. Which is one of the reasons why I am staying away from them," Kara admitted. She didn't tell him that the Realm of the Dead also scared the hell out of her. She didn't want to chance seeing the population of her planet there. The chances of that were slim. But she didn't know enough about the Realm of the Dead to say it didn't crossover with other Multiverses. She had no intention of ever finding out. She never wanted to meet with Death herself to ask any questions about the other side.

"Good to know, good to know." He started to power up for the flight to his balcony. "I'll let the others know. Expect Capsicle to be bounding down here like an excited puppy."

"Send him over to Thor." Kara suggested half-jokingly. "The puppies can keep each other company then." Thor would like to play with Steve, and the media was camped out near there so it would be good exposure for The Avengers too. Captain America was the perfect 'face' for the team, and Steve had experience dealing with media types, even if it was over sixty years out of date.

Tony laughed and nodded. "Will do, Baby Blue." He gave her a mock salute before firing up his boots and flying back up to the top of Stark Tower.

True to his word, only about ten minutes later Hawkeye and Widow were walking towards her. Hawkeye's bow was missing, but they both were wearing their guns. Kara wasn't sure what they were going to be doing to help out. Most of what she had been doing today had been moving things that humans would need heavy machinery to relocate. The people who were helping nearby were cleaning the smaller stuff. They were being great about staying out of her way too. If it was only for PR there was a lot Hawkeye and Widow could be doing with her, like bringing the bodies of Chitauri to the pile so she could stack them like cordwood later.

"Hey, who got the short straw and has to watch Loki open portals to the Realm of the Dead?" She asked as they got close enough that she could give Hawkeye a quick hug.

"Banner volunteered since it didn't require him to leave the Tower." Widow replied with her regular calm voice. "General Ross is making inquiries as to where Hulk is now that the fighting is over, and how he was able to work with a group." She added as a warning for the girl. "He was asking about you too. He heard you had been hurt and wanted samples."

Kara snorted angrily and turned away. "He keeps it up and I'll offer Banner room and board in Asgard. At least there he'll be respected and not a slave. And if SHIELD knows what's good for them they will have made sure there were no samples. Otherwise I will rip every government agency on Midgard apart to find every one and destroy them."

Hawkeye held up his hands. "No worries. Tony lasered the whole deck, and nothing got missed. He slagged the whole panel, and the area under it for good measure."

Widow nodded sharply. "We watched the security tapes. Tony was very careful to get every drop, even the ones on the way to the hole you flew out of." She verified.

Kara relaxed and gave them both a smile. "Thank you for checking." She turned to Hawk suddenly as she remembered her promise.

"By the way, we tested the Soul Forge on Loki. It found the seiðr that was controlling him. If you want to later, I can fly you to my place and wipe the remaining magic from your mind." She explained quickly. "He mentioned that it wasn't until it had been fully removed that he felt the presence completely leave him."

Barton looked a little spooked. He rubbed his neck and gave Widow a side look, as if asking her advice. She flicked her fingers and he shrugged in response and flicked his back. The signals weren't sign language. She'd learn enough of that to know for certain, nor was it a variation of the other forms of sign she had learned. It was their own unique language much like Asgardian signs she knew were different from Earth's. Kara waited patiently.

"That sounds good." He finally said after a few twitches back and forth.

Kara chuckled. "I promise that while I can't take Agent Romanoff there, I can set it up so she can see the whole treatment remotely, and you will stay awake and not experience any pain during the procedure." She told him fondly. "Plus if anything goes wrong, Tony has a way to find us. He just doesn't know that because there never has been reason to know."

Hawkeye and Widow both relaxed a little at her suggestions. Both of them had been in too many situations to be comfortable with someone playing with their head without some form of backup. "I take it this 'Soul Forge' is in your hideout?" Barton guessed quietly so the three of them couldn't be overheard. He'd heard the conversation Kara, Thor and Loki had been having that the TV station had overheard. He respected the fact that she wanted to keep her technology out of the hands of those that would steal and abuse it.

Kara nodded her head sharply. "I am placing a lot of trust in you by taking you there." She looked conflicted. "I've never even taken Tony there before. There is too much there that I am worried will fall into the wrong hands. Fury's included."

Barton sighed gratefully. "But you are willing to do this for me."

Kara looked conflicted and quite pitifully sad. "Loki did this to you. Not by his own choice, but he did. He asked me to heal you, not that I wouldn't have anyway, and I had already offered, but he did ask." She rambled at him.

He tousled her hair playfully before cupping the back of her neck like he did his own kids when they got nervous. "Don't worry about it for now. We'll deal with it later, after dinner." He assured her.

"What can we do?" Widow asked her politely.

Kara looked around. "As much as it's a filthy job, collecting the bodies and stripping them of any possible Alien Tech before it gets picked up by the people milling around trying to help. I know most of these people are SHIELD but it would make me feel better to get it off the streets as fast as possible. I'm moving the heavy stuff out of the way so the emergency vehicles can move through the street again."

They all got to work. Several times a 'city waste management' trash trucks were able to get through and Kara and the others would direct them to the piles of stripped alien bodies that were dumped into the back of the trucks. The company had a separate warehouse for the battle clean up apparently and had the contract for the mess. Brainiac had confirmed the news before she had helped to load the first truck. SHIELD had their own team come and collect the striped out alien armor and tech periodically too.

They managed to clear four blocks before dinner. By then Kara was sure she could eat the whole cow that Tony had promised Hulk the day before. She was sure Thor and Loki would be able to keep pace with her too. Seiðr used just as much energy, if not more, than lifting and moving buses, cars, pallets of broken brick, and hundreds of armored bodies.

She warned JARVIS ahead of time about how much food the three Asgardian Party would require, as well as the rest of the Avengers, and the support staff Pepper was sure to have called in to help with SI's charity contributions. Tony had arranged for the large amount of food to be delivered by a helicopter of all things. When Kara saw it heading to the Tower she had flown over to see Thor and call him off for dinner. She was surprised to find Loki working nearby, he was vanishing large piles of the bodies of the Chitauri while Thor and Steve Rogers were talking to the Police Chief nearby.

"Everybody ready to stop for the day?" She asked wearily. Two days of heavy tolling was exhausting.

Loki looked a little glassy-eyed, which meant he had over-extended himself a little. Nothing a good night's sleep and a very large meal couldn't fix. Loki was likely to out eat Steve, and Thor combined due to the amount of energy he had spent this afternoon.

Thor looked as tired as Kara felt. "Aye, there is not much heavy lifting left to do in this area." He told her. Kara could see all the way down the street now. Thor and Steve had been very busy.

"We've managed to get enough of the street clear that the police and ambulances can get through now." Steve explained.

"Same with Hawkeye, Widow and I on Park Avenue," Kara replied before a large yawn escaped her. "Now I'm just tired and hungry."

The Police chief who had been close enough to hear her chuckled and smiled. "I can't thank you all enough. This would have taken us weeks to clear this mess." He admitted with gratitude.

"You are very welcome, Chief." Loki replied as he joined the group. "If there's any more we can do…" He trailed off waiting politely for his reply.

The Chief took one look at the heroes and waved Loki's question off. "No, you have all done so much already." He assured them. "I'll make sure you are all credited with your efforts." He turned to Loki. "You're contributions alone were astronomical." He gushed with amazement. He'd never imagined magic could be so astounding. "I was having the hardest time trying to figure out what to do with those Whales. The Mayor just said to get rid of them, and I had no idea how to even start. Plus, I had government agencies all over me about how, and who could touch them and I had no idea who was giving me the correct information." He just shook his head. "Telling the guy from Washington that he could come down here and argue with the God of Mischief and Magic if he wanted to bitch about it got at least one asshole off my back." He chuckled with a grateful smile.

The group laughed but it was a shared mirth. It helped create links to their friendships for the future, and built a little more trust between them. "Glad to be of help." Kara yawned again.

The Chief waved them away. "Off with you." He ordered good-naturedly. "I don't want to see any of you unless you are rested and well fed, you hear me young lady, gentlemen?"

"Yes Sir." They all answered, in various levels of humor. The group as a whole seemed to decide without words to walk the five blocks to the Tower. There was no traffic, besides the odd ambulance and police car so they walked on the cleared area of the street. As they walked by people called out thanks, and occasional cat calls of "I love you, Supergirl" or "Captain, Marry me!" Some were aimed at Thor and Loki too. They just smiled and waved to the people as they walked, but mostly they just walked at a sedate pace together.

Steve was feeling a little out of his depth as he walked with the three 'gods' of Asgard. He started to allow the others to walk ahead of him, but Kara wasn't having it, and each time he slowed she slowed to match his stride.

"Are you injured Captain?" Loki finally asked after Steve tried for the third time to slow so the others could walk ahead.

"Ah, no, I was just trying to ah…" He stammered.

Kara snorted. "We are not any more heroes than you are Steve. There is no need for you to walk behind us."

Thor looked a little surprised. "Is this what you were doing Captain? Do you not see your deeds as worthy as our own?"

Steve blushed and looked at his feet. "Ah, well kinda I guess."

Thor slapped his shoulder pushing the poor embarrassed man forward. "You are our Shield Brother, you are our equal, and should walk with us, never behind." He gave Loki an apologetic smile for his past slights and suggestions that Loki should walk behind him, or know his place. Loki rolled his eyes and just ignored the gesture, but inside he couldn't help but feel a bit better about Thor's statement.

That seemed to end that conversation and they walked together the rest of the way in companionable silence. A block from the Tower Widow, Tony, and Hawkeye joined them.

It was the whole team, minus Banner, that the lucky paparazzi that had staked out Stark Tower got a photo of. With Kara standing in front and her brothers beside her, they were flanked by the rest of The Avengers around them.

That evening they all ate their fill and spoke of all their efforts to clean the city. Banner had been helping Pepper to organize the paperwork for the charities that were requesting money while he's overseen Loki working. He'd been staggered by the amount of money that Tony was donating to all the local soup kitchens, and churches to help feed, and shelter all the displaced people. The area that was most heavily damaged was mostly industrial, stores and office buildings, not apartments thankfully. Quite a bit of the money was going into feeding the police and other emergency personnel that had been brought in. The National Guard was there, and had their own network for feeding and sheltering their people, but the city wasn't prepared for an alien invasion scenario, so Stark Industries was helping with the shortfall.

It was a quiet, clean, casually dressed, and well fed group that Fury walked in to find just a little after dark. "Well, if it isn't 'Earth Mightiest Heroes' all together." He casually remarked as he walked in.

Kara was tempted to just give him the finger but that would require her to move and she was comfortable snuggled up to Loki's side watching a movie JARVIS had put on after dinner.

JARVIS placed the movie on pause, and turned the lights up a little as Fury came in to address the group. "I'm warning you now Fury I am not in a mood to play 'who can be the snarkiest' tonight so let's just get to the point." Kara sighed heavily.

Fury raised a brow but nodded calmly and sat down on the only chair in the room that was open. Without the scepter influencing his emotions he found himself much calmer and in control around the teenage pain in his ass.

"I have been fielding calls from the World Council and I need some answers… please." He added after a moment. He was calm and polite; something Kara was more familiar with when she had met the man over a year ago.

Kara nodded and sat up straighter. "What are they asking you?"

Fury sat back and looked at her sharply. "They want to know what your plans are, and if you plan to impede SHIELD."

Kara looked at Thor and Loki quickly to gain a sense of if they wanted her to continue to lead. Loki waved her on, and Thor nodded his agreement. Kara looked back to Fury. "Asgard has requested that; Loki, The Destroyer, and I present ourselves before the court." She answered him with an informal air, but Fury could tell this wasn't a request, they had been ordered to return. "As to what will happen after that, it depends on if the three of us decide to return to Midgard as a group, or if one or two of us are required to deal with a few issues that have cropped up around the Realms. Now that Asgard doesn't have the ability to drop troops in at a moment's notice, a few rebels have been causing issues that need to be put down." She looked over at Thor how nodded once more. "Thor is unlikely to return immediately, but it is possible Loki and I will be back sooner."

Fury nodded slowly. "And the Tesseract?"

Kara nodded and smiled sweetly. "Of course that will be returned to Odin now that he is aware it is not in the keeping of its caretakers. He wants it back."

Fury actually chuckled which was not the reaction Kara was expecting. "I said as much when they asked. I told them they were welcome to argue with the three of you if they objected." Everyone in the room actually snickered along with the Director.

He was quiet for a moment before he looked apologetically to Kara. "I also wanted to officially let you know that Phil Coulson was not in danger of death from the injuries he sustained on the deck when you pulled him out of the way." He explained gruffly. His voice hinted at the anger and sorrow he felt at losing his 'right hand man and his good eye'. "He had a reaction to the medication he was given in the infirmary. It caused a previously unknown allergic reaction. That is what killed him."

Kara nodded with a blank face and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for your concern Director. I am grateful for your assurance on that."

"He liked you, defended you even before he met you." Fury told her fondly, as he remembered his friend and most valued colleague. "He was very proud of the type of work you did. I hope we can still have the same type of relationship." He held out his hand hesitantly.

Kara nodded and took his hand with a polite smile. "Same rules apply for the three of us." She told him gruffly. "All three of us cannot officially be Avengers." Fury twitched a little when she said three. "But we will certainly come if called when you have need of us to defend Midgard."

He nodded with a scowl towards Loki. "I will need a few days to move The Destroyer from its current location to a place where you can pick it up."

Kara waved him away. "I know where it is. I can get it from there."

Fury turned and glared strongly at her. "How do you know where The Fridge is?"

Kara crossed her arms and gave him a look to convey her disappointment. The Avengers were stifling snickers and grins behind their drink or hands. "You didn't really think I'd let you take an Asgardian technological device and let you keep it without knowing where it was at all times, did you?"

Fury sighed and looked away with an aggravated glare at the other snickering Avengers. "No, I suppose you would not." Fury swore as he recalled that The Destroyer had also been to The Hub and The Cube before finally heading up to the final stop being the highly classified Fridge base in Alaska.

Kara gave no indication that she was worried about his secret bases. "I will grant you that time if you like Director. We want to help as much as possible before we return. If you wish to keep your base secure we can wait until you have time to bring it to the Triskelion if you prefer."

Fury nodded and he clamped his jaw shut. She was offering an olive branch and he'd be a fool not to take it. "Who was responsible for the Press Release that white-washed Loki's actions?" He asked carefully. He had been impressed with how quickly the whole thing had been done, and how clean the job had been. He'd been sure the old man from Stuttgart, and some of the people in the crowd there would have said something since Loki's face had been plastered on every screen in the world for the last two days. But the old man hasn't wearing his glasses that night, and most of the people were so traumatized that they had all given different descriptions, except the golden horns and golden cheek guards that hide more than half his face. If Loki appeared in public with his helmet on he'd be recognized in a heartbeat, but he'd been without the golden horns during the clean up so far, and it had gone unremarked by the media. It also helped that he was wearing Blue Armor and had a very deep green cape that looked black in the dark.

Kara smiled and Thor was quick to point at Kara. "All public relations are the forte of my siblings. On Midgard our sister leads." He turned and smiled at an amused Loki. "On Asgard, Loki is the resident Silvertongue."

The title Silvertongue was usually one graced to highly regarded diplomats. Among warriors they were often disparaged, but there was no mistaking Thor's tone as he spoke. He meant the statement as the highest compliment. Loki gave Thor a rare one sided smile, which had Thor beaming with happiness.

Fury nodded as if that statement satisfied a hunch he had about their dynamic as a group. "I had suspected Miss Potts at first, but I was informed that she was not in a position to even speak to any of the three of you." He looked sternly at Loki. "I'm taking a hell of a lot at face value here." His glare was met with an unconcerned curious look from Loki. He knew he had nothing to fear as long as Kara was on his side. The people of Midgard trusted her, far more than they did a shadow government agency. "If Zor El says you were mind-controlled, and she has proof I'm told, then I am willing to place you on the same footing as Agent Barton. A full pardon for your actions in this incident, and you'll be given the same status as Supergirl, that of an ally."

Kara saw Barton slowly lift his head to look at them, his eyes were shadowed. He wasn't happy about Loki getting the same treatment as him, but at the same time he wasn't hypocritical enough to say anything. He'd watch and make his own mind up once he got treatment from the Soul Forge, once that happened he'd know better. She could also then show him the scans and he'd be able to visibly see the same magic had been used against him too.

"Barton is going to be undergoing the same treatment that Loki did to rid himself from any remaining connection to the Cube." Kara explained to the Director. "We are concerned about Selvig though." She quickly explained about the Cube's sentience and its influence on Selvig. "It might have gone so deep it could never be fully removed. I'd like to try though."

"So the Cube itself did something to Selvig?" Fury questioned with incredibility. "It can do that?"

Kara nodded. Loki spoke up and explained the situation to the group as he was the expert. "All the Infinity Stones have a consciousness to them. They can possess their host, and the more susceptible the person, the more control they have. In Selvig's case I believe his desire to know and understand the Universe intrigued the Cube and it decided to 'show' him the knowledge he craved. That is why it will be so hard to remove its influence. The Cube would have wound it's influence around Selvig's actual knowledge."

Steve looked up sharply. "Just before I had to ditch the 'Valkyrie' in the Ocean, Red Skull grabbed the Cube with his bare hand and it shot off a beam towards space, and he disappeared…" He trailed off unsure how to finish his inquiry.

Loki thought for a moment. "It possibly didn't like the way it was being used. The Tesseract is a Space Gem, it likely decided since the man wished to abuse its powers that it would show him what its intended purpose was."

Kara wasn't sure she agreed with that, but she didn't have a better explanation. "Infinity Stones are rarely reliable in the stories and myths about them."

"It was decided long ago that the gems would be hidden across the Realms so that no one being could try and control all the gems at once." Thor continued to tell them.

"What are these gems?" Widow asked.

"They are the known powers of Seiðr in the Universe at the creation of times." Loki began, he used his magic to produce a projection of a dark patch. In that dark patch a single light began to grow and it sprouted a young tree sapling. At the base of the tree the light split into six different points of lights. The seeds then lifted up so they were the focus of the scene and the tree continued to grow very slowly in a faded outline. "As the Tree of Life began to grow, it expand the threads holding the different aspects of the Universe and released them. Six beings grew, one from each Stone." A figure of a girl arose, a firebird, a half invisible man with what looked like galaxies swirling within himself, a woman of light, a timeless shifting being that was not human or Asgardian but something altogether frightening, and finally a shadow that followed the others slowly. "They were Death, The Phoenix Force, Sixth Cosmos, Infinity, Eternity, and Oblivion." The six figures settled into different areas of the World Tree.

"The stones themselves became dormant for a time." Loki continued to spin his tale, drawing everyone in with the spell, showing them the creation of the Universe as it began to form into the galaxies and then planets, all streaming from the base of the tree. "Once the Realms were established they began to grow powerful again, gaining strength from the lifecycles of the people in the World Tree."

"The gems all hold different powers. They are; the Soul, Reality, Mind, Space, Time and Power stones." As Loki spoke each of the Stone changed color and winked as he said the name of each. "It is said that no being is strong enough to withstand the collective might of the gems, except the Entities they birthed. They could collect the stones and place them in a gauntlet of immense power. If one did, they would have the power to recreate the Universe to their whim."

"One being tried to do so. Long ago; The Mad Titan." Thor whispered softly. "He was defeated and thrown from the World Tree by _The Norns_." Loki winced hard and the illusion flickered a moment when Thor spoke.

"Where do these Norns fit in this web?" Fury asked as he too was hypnotically drawn into the tale as where all the Avengers.

Three women appeared to be standing at the base of the tree. One of the women brushed aside a patch of dirt and one placed a seed, then the last covered the seed with the dirt once more. All three placed their hands over the patch of dirt and the sapling began to push out of the dirt. " _The Norns_ are the planters, and nurturers of the World Tree." Loki let the illusion fade away. "They control Fate." Everyone took a moment to shake off the awe from the story.

"Ok this is too much for me right now." Fury admitted with a deep sigh. "I don't have the motherfucking time to learn your religion." Fury waved the explanation away. "Just know that I am fighting a battle with the World Council, and if they have to kill Barton in order to use Loki as their ticket out of danger then that's what they will do." Everybody was instantly up in arms. But Fury waved everyone down. "I have them convinced they don't want to do that." He yelled loudly enough to get through the yelling from the others.

Kara looked toward Tony and he gave her one hard nod. Kara whispered, "Brainiac, unleash Hel on those jackasses." She ordered.

"With pleasure," Brainiac replied whisper softly.


	10. Preparing to Return Part II

SoA- Part 3

Chapter 10 – Preparing to Return Part II

Brainiac quickly dived back into the SHIELD databases. Their firewalls were like tissue paper and he didn't even try to hide his actions, he just plowed through them, setting off alarms and alerts everywhere. He quickly found the connection protocols for the World Council and dived through them and followed the leads to each of the members. He got their names and then opened the search wider looking for all properties, businesses, family members and their accounts and connections. Once he had at least all the accounts of these people and their closest family members he alerted Kara. The entire action took twenty seconds.

Kara had been half-listening as Fury told them he could only do so much against the council but was fighting to keep the team free of their influence.

"It helps that I have no authority over The Asgard Royals, which is what I called you when they asked who you stood with." He had finally added when Brainiac alerted her that he had the information.

"Burn them Brainiac." Kara ordered loud enough that everyone turned to her.

"Burning commencing," Brainiac stated through JARVIS's speakers. "All accounts are frozen."

"Properties are being listed as contaminated with dangerous substances with local authorities." JARVIS reported.

"Just what is going on?" Fury asked with tightly reigned in curiosity.

"They shouldn't have annoyed me." Kara told him with a glare.

"Warrants for their arrest, and for those of at least one of their closest non-juvenile relatives have been listed for terrorist actions with INTERPOL, CIA and their home Agencies." Brainiac added. "They will have problems having those warrant removed without our help."

"Well that should keep them busy for the next, oh three days." Kara smiled evilly.

Loki looked impressed by her antics. Tony just looked proud and he came over and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Chip off the old block." He crowed. He kissed her temple. "That's my girl."

Fury looked speechless. "You unmasked the Council, placed them under international warrants for their arrest, and froze their bank accounts?"

Kara nodded sharply. "I did not out them as World Council members, and it's only for three days, then Brainiac will wipe the information. It's also for their immediate family members… Tell them the next time they meet, not to annoy me. This was a warning shot. Go after my family, friends, or anyone I consider an innocent again, like they did in New York, and I will find them and kill them. No second chances. They have twenty-four hours to back off, or at the end of those three days it all stays up and I go hunting." Her voice was as frosty as if she had used her powers.

Everyone who didn't know Kara very well stopped and stared at her in fear or awe. Loki and Thor looked impressed with the non-bloody way she had dealt with an enemy, while Cap, Widow and Fury all looked degrees of unnerved and lost at the amount of technological power she had displayed. The fact that Tony could likely do the same as she had, but let her do it instead wasn't lost on Widow. She had seen the nod Tony had delivered to Kara. She was now more concerned about what Kara and Tony could do together, more than the implications of The Asgard Royals and what they were capable of.

Cap hadn't missed any of it, but he was slower on the uptake due to his lack of knowledge of the new world he had found himself in since he had woken up just over two months ago. He still came to the same conclusion several minutes after Widow. Kara was much more dangerous than people assumed, much like him, when he thought about it.

Most people didn't remember that Steve's official kill count for WWII was over two hundred HYDRA operatives. Unofficially he had killed closer to seven hundred since HYDRA weapons didn't leave much, if any traces behind to be counted. The list of MIA's on the enemy side was in the tens of thousands mostly due to HYDRA weapons being deployed against them by The Howling Commandos. He'd personally appropriated several high grade explosives made with Tesseract technology, and detonated them in HYDRA bases over the course of the war, killing all inside without someone to officially count or collect the human remains.

The white-washing of his reputation didn't bother Steve. He actually found it easier to maneuver around SHIELD because of it. People underestimated him constantly. He was only just realizing how much they had underestimated the young girl in front of them because of her looks. He kept forgetting she wasn't human, and neither was Thor or Loki. They had different morals and codes of honor.

Barton was unsurprised. He'd seen and heard about Brainiac from Coulson after Fury had tried to recruit her. He'd also seen it in action once, but not to this level of infiltration. He was certain the supercomputer knew he had files not-accessible online that was a danger to Zor El, but they hadn't done anything about them. Still unlike the others he knew she was as much a soldier as any of them.

Tony had made these plans originally when he first became Iron Man for when the council got out of control. Kara had found them and expanded them a little further. Tony would have never gone after the immediate family members. Kara had insisted that people as used to being in power as the council, would need an extra scare in order to understand they had pissed off the wrong people. They had to understand they were going to be held accountable. That was something this council didn't seem to be. Kara and Tony both hadn't found any oversight, which is why the Council thought they could get away with firing a nuclear missile at a populated civilian city. They had never planned to take responsibility.

The warrants Kara had issued were not actually for that nuclear strike. The offense was listed as a _planned_ terrorist action against New York, not an already fired nuke. There would be no hiding the fact that Tony had personally re-routed a nuke into the Space Portal and saved all of New York though. Kara had Brainiac send that information at the same time to the news media, but not linked the warrants to the Strike or Battle.

Every agency out there would be looking for the source of that nuke, and not the new terrorist group, even if they were high profile people in intelligence circles. By the time the information would be seriously looked into Brainiac would be scrubbing it. The idea was to scare the hell out of the Council, not actually have them arrested. The fact that a well-liked senator was on that list meant that authorities were going to be careful and finding a warrant without court paperwork to back it up meant it was going to be hailed as a hacking event. It would take a few news cycles to figure that out, but harm would be done to their reputations regardless.

Even as they were sitting there and Fury was processing the information, News Stations all around the World were getting tips that the missile seen in footage of the Battle of New York, as it was being dubbed, was actually a nuke that had been fired by a covert terrorist cell that had access to a rogue Nuke that had been smuggled into international waters just off the coast of the US. It was going to be a huge scandal.

Kara and Tony hoped this council wouldn't still be the same people in twenty-four hours, but a few might make the cut. The new council would hopefully be both; smarter, and more respectful, group. Kara and Tony weren't holding their breath on that outcome actually happening. More likely the group would hold onto that power with everything they had. This should give them a wake-up call. They were no longer anonymous and never would be again.

Fury of course didn't know any of this until he got a call a few minutes later from Hill. SHIELD was trying to suppress the news organizations from going to air with the unconfirmed rumors and he suddenly had to leave. He glared at Tony, Loki, and Kara before leaving without a word. It went without saying who had leaked the rumors since he had watched her do it.

Kara took advantage of Hawkeye being in the room to ask to speak to him privately. The two moved onto the balcony and went to were the railing was still in place looking over the damage to Park Avenue.

"When we checked and healed Loki with the Soul Forge we found the magic residue that was left behind by the scepter." She explained quietly. "The machine knows what to look for and how to clear it out if you are interested." It was the second time she had brought it up. She didn't want to push, but she was running out of time. She had no idea how long they would be gone when they had to return to Asgard.

Clint wasn't looking at her but looking down the street at the cleared rubble and the stains left behind by the whale guts after Loki had transported the bodies to Hel. "What are the consequences of leaving the residue?" He asked thoughtfully.

Kara scrunched up her face in concentration, "Susceptibility to suggestion, easy manipulation of your agenda for another, especially if it lines with what you were ordered to do before. Go against SHIELD, and whatever else you were ordered to do." She told him honestly. "You also would be likely to fall into a passive compliance if someone gave you orders in the right way." She left out the possibility of the influence being sentient and slipping back in since that was just speculation.

"So I'd be open to suggestions while planning ops, or training agents," Clint winced as he thought how glad he was that Loki had basically ignored the fact he had a wife and children. Loki had just nodded and seemed to ignore that bit of information when he'd spilled all his secrets to him, "and killing my fellow SHIELD agents."

Kara's face showed sympathy as she placed her hand on his arm and he turned to face her. "I know you have been told it wasn't you who did those things." She shook her head, "But they are wrong. You did do them, the only thing that you have to remember is that you didn't do those things willingly. It was not your choice to do them." She knew that it had been his skills, his thought processes that came up with the plans. He'd done those things to the best of his ability because he believed in the mission while under the scepter. She wasn't going to belittle his experience by saying 'you didn't do it'; just that he wasn't responsible for the outcomes.

Clint gave her a firm nod. Everyone had told him variations of 'it's not your fault', even Natasha. Somehow not making excuses for forgetting it was reassuring. He didn't want to forget, he wanted to fight it. "Will I remember?"

Kara nodded sharply. "The procedure would remove the magic, and the suggestions it placed in your mind. You will remember the actions you took, the reasoning you used. Without the magic there you will see the influence of the magic, and the power it had over you that you cannot see now. It takes time for the magic to fade completely, but you will be safe from the influence and manipulation of others who know about the spell." It would also allow him to see the differences in what he would chose to do if he had really been in control. Whether that would be a good or a bad thing for his mental recovery would be up to how he accepted that this magic was so powerful it took over an Archmage. A human without magical training had no chance at resisting a spell this powerful.

"I'll know what was me doing things on my own because I wanted to and what was force by the compulsion, is what you are saying?" Clint asked, wanting clarification before he agreed to her messing with his head. Had it been anyone else, except Kara or Nat, he'd have told them to fuck off. Kara nodded with a look of hope and longing. She really wanted to help he realized. He was reassured by the clarity of her motives.

"Pretty much, it's a matter of what do you want to do. I will not force you to do this." She looked at him beseechingly however, "But I will ask strongly that you do. Not for Loki's sake, not for my sake, and not even for SHIELD's sake. Do I want my friend to be whole? Sure I do, but I want that man I met who protected me even when I didn't realize I needed it, to be the one in charge of his own mind because that is the man who Earth needs to be its protector going forward." She had tears forming in her eyes and he knew he couldn't say no.

Clint shook his head. "If I do this," He gave her a pointed look, "I am going to need some assurances of a few of your motives."

Kara looked puzzled as she stared at him. "My motives?"

Clint snorted but gave her a look that suggested that he knew something. "You are not Supergirl all the time _Kara_." He replied causally.

Whatever else Clint was about to ask it was instantly circumvented by Loki who instantly was between Kara and Clint and had him by the throat. "Perhaps this conversation should be taken away from here." He snarled over his shoulder at Kara.

"LOKI! Put him down!" Kara snapped as she squeezed Loki's wrist forcing his fingers to slacken for a second to allow Clint to land back on his feet.

Kara spun Loki around and glared at him. "How dare you attack him."

Loki snarled back at her. "How dare he threaten you. That mewling quim of his was barely holding her smug satisfaction in check while she recorded this conversation."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You can wipe her memory of the conversation." She reminded him.

He snorted. "Already done, and she won't be getting up anytime soon either."

Clint backed away quickly while massaging his throat. "What did you do?" He managed to cough out.

Loki turned and glared at him. "She has already figured out she could manipulate you, she was recording and watching the conversation out here."

Clint closed his eyes. While he would love to defend Natasha, he knew that was exactly what she would have done, and likely did to manipulation him into doing exactly what he was doing. He'd never planned to out Kara Stark to SHIELD. Nat had proposed that Zor El and Kara Stark were one and the same. The only 'proof' they had that they were not was surveillance footage of both of them talking in Tony's lab on only one day, and the facial recognition data that said they were only a twenty percent match, which basically said they were the same gender with hair about the same length. The fact Kara Stark was an eighty-nine percent match to Loki, basically the gender issue was the only difference. Kara Stark and Loki could be siblings, which was the tipping point for Natasha. Magic after all could account for her identity.

"JARVIS?" Kara called out. "Did SHIELD get any of that?"

"No Miss Zor El," JARVIS replied quickly. "I faked the connection and the recording was not made by any outside sources."

Clint closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "SHIELD needs to be kept-"

Loki snarled. "SHIELD will soon learn that just because I no longer have access to an army, does not mean that they are in the clear if they so much as hurt _My Kara_." Loki's use of his pet name for her made it obvious that Kara was her name. While the 'my' portion was still in Kryptonian and sounded like 'khape', the Kara portion was obvious. 'Khape Kara' wouldn't make any sense except in this context.

Clint turned to her. "What does that mean?"

Kara bit her lip and looked at her feet. "It means 'My Kara'." She told him.

Clint nodded, "You called him something else. It's close but not exactly the same."

"Khap Loki." She clarified. "That means 'My Loki'. Khape is the feminine use of the word my, sometimes." She sighed with a weariness she hadn't felt in a long time. "Kryptonian isn't really compatible with English." She explained softly. "And Allspeak translations aren't always the best, which is why we at times sound a little Shakespearian when we talk."

"So you two are a couple." Clint gave her a knowing smirk. "We kinda figured that."

Kara was surprised by the assertion and the stance of the others who had now come and gathered around them, except Banner who was attending Widow inside, suggested they all agreed with that statement. Only Thor beginning to laugh and Loki looking confused at their conclusion hinted that they were wrong.

Kara looked at her feet trying to hide the hint of a blush that stained her cheeks. She hadn't admitted to Loki that she had used the fact that their mother was suggesting a betrothal as an excuse to mourn longer.

"They have called each other such since our Sister began to teach him the language." Thor chuckled at their confusion. "Either that or her other nickname of 'Little One'."

"It started as a way to differentiate between the male and female pronouns." Kara added softly.

"So it's like French." Tony asked as he stepped up beside Kara and placed an arm casually around her shoulders. "Male I, you, we, and, female I, you, we."

Kara was about to answer when Loki lifted Tony's arm and pushed it off Kara's shoulders with a snarl on his face. "Regardless of whatever you all believe, _My Kara_ will not be threatened again or your will face me in a duel. Are we clear?" He snarled at Clint and the group in general.

Loki was looking every bit the offended suiter and none of them was really sure what he was capable of. There was also no reason to push the incident. "Crystal." Clint smirked. "Though thank you for the confirmation of her identity."

Steve looked to Clint for some type of clarification but Tony's face clouded with anger. He agreed that SHIELD couldn't be trusted with the information and he was silently siding with Loki on this one.

"Loki, please don't." Kara called out as he raised his hand to erase the last few minutes from their minds. "Please, we have to trust them. We will be working with them in the future, please. Clint can be trusted." She looked at Steve and saw his own convictions were not in conflict. He trusted her as a warrior-in-arms, and he nodded his head firmly letting her know she had his silence.

Loki turned on her scowling, ignoring the byplay between Kara and Steve. "No, he cannot. That woman in there holds power over him." His voice laced with anger and protectiveness. "That woman knows nothing of loyalty to anyone, only to whoever holds her leash. Right now that is Director Fury, whom we do not trust."

Clint realized there was no way he was going to win this argument. Loki was right. Natasha did have power over him. But Loki was also wrong. Natasha was loyal to SHIELD, but her loyalty was stronger for Clint than it was to Fury. He also had power over her too. He was her only family, him and his wife, his kids, not that anyone but Fury and Coulson knew about them.

Clint held up his hands to show he wasn't going to attack or anything equally as stupid. "I'll agree to the healing." He finally capitulated. "But if you want to earn her trust, and win her loyalty, it's going to be a long road."

"Will you help us do it?" Kara asked him hopefully.

Clint felt his own will crumble against the emotions in her eyes. She was happy he was going to allow her to heal him. She was also so hopeful that she and 'The Avengers' would be a force of good for Earth. He couldn't stand in the way of that. "I will help." He agreed a little reluctantly, but mostly grateful that she was so transparent in her motives.

"That trust is a two way street Bird Brain." Tony added cautiously. "You and Steve she trusts, but Banner and Widow need to earn her trust before she lets them in… Capeesh?"

Clint agreed slowly and reluctantly. Steve looked a little apprehensive but held his tongue since Loki and Tony both seemed to be in an uproar about Supergirl's secrets. He could understand wanting to know them better first.

Banner had no issues not knowing what the confrontation on the balcony had been about. He'd actually rather not know for certain, because he was positive he knew who she was already. There weren't that many people who could quote one of his papers on an exam for a Master Degree. Kara Stark was one of two, and the only one under the age of twenty-one. Bruce kept his suspicions to himself after witnessing Loki take Natasha down and rending her unconscious with a wave of his hand.

Clint pulled Widow aside when she awoke and explained everything that was going to happen. She had put up a long argument but he held fast. He told her that Zor El would reveal her secrets in her own time and SHIELD had been fine with that before now. They would have to accept it going forward.

Kara had setup the remote feed into the Healing chamber of the Fortress. Brainiac and JARVIS both were going to cut the feed if she tried to trace or tamper with anything on the computer. No one trusted her, they all expected her to try and pry some type of information out of either Clint or the feed.

Kara had shown them both a video feed of the device working on her when she had been getting her scar removed. The spoken languages recorded were Old Norse so they had trouble following the conversation between the Thor, Loki and Kara but they could see the way the device seemed to work with light and lasers, slowly removing the scar tissue and when Kara stood the scar was completely gone. She explained it was basically a quantum field generator with additional healing factors. When pressed about those added features by Tony and Bruce she smirked and said "Magic". That ended the conversation as far as Clint was willing to go. It opened a huge can of worms for Tony, Bruce and Loki to debate over.

When it was finally time to go to the Fortress Loki stepped up beside Kara and extended his teleporting field over both of them and Clint, taking the three directly to the Healing chamber. This way Clint had no idea how far or where in the world he was. The Fortress was underground but from inside the crystalized architecture there was no way to ascertain that. The light given off the Crystal columns worked much like florescent lighting, providing light everywhere, and in some cases it was hard to tell if it was filtered sunlight or not.

Kara smiled at Clint as he gazed around the room in awe. The entire place was so very alien and yet beautiful.

"All you have to do is lay down on the platform and the Soul Forge will do the rest." Kara reminded him softly as he turned back towards the machine.

Clint took his time looking over the machine before he got up on the platform. "So I will be awake for this right?" He asked carefully. Being an operative meant that he really shouldn't allow anyone to put him under. There was always the possibility of extracting secrets from agents in that way.

Kara scrunched up her nose. "It's not ideal when doing brain work, but I am aware of the worry of telling secrets while under the influence of a foreign power." She conceded with a pout. "I was kinda hoping you would trust me enough to let me put you under with Widow watching to see the results, but I won't push it."

Clint nodded slowly. "It's not a lack of trust. It's conditioning." He reasoned delicately. He really didn't want to offend her. "I would not feel safe if I was under and I would fight it."

Kara shrugged knowing he didn't understand just how deep the Soul Forge would make him go if he allowed it. "Even Loki can't fight the Soul Forge's ability to put him out, but I won't force you." She promised.

Loki behind her snorted with a touch of both mirth and annoyance, "You forced me to be unconscious."

Kara leveled a playful glare at him. "You're family, I can do whatever I want to you. Agent Barton is a guest."

Barton nearly snorted himself at her words and the pout Loki was giving her. "According to you I was a guest too." He reminded her of her enforced Rite.

Kara actually giggled. "That was later. When I was trying to make sure you and Thor didn't pull the Fortress down around our ears."

Clint had to admit that their banter was helping him to see Loki as a person, rather than the man who had controlled him. He was completely different standing there in dress pants and a button down shirt. Gone was the imposing tall warrior. In his place was a well dress and slim, lean looking early twenties man next to his stereotypical looking high school, cheerleader girlfriend. Kara's tights with long blue sweater that came down mid-thigh was the type of casual outfit that most teens wore. The image was too domestic for the setting. The crystal architecture was most definitely alien in origin, and Clint couldn't help but feel the cold radiating from the floor of the room despite the heating coming from the walls.

He laid back and took a deep breath. "I'm ready." He informed them.

Kara looked down at him with an encouraging grin. "Keep your eyes closed, otherwise the lights are going to give you a headache." She warned him. "We think this should only take at most an hour." She told him, giving him an inflated amount of time. She really would be surprised if it took more than ten minutes. The Soul Forge was going to do as much healing as it could in that time. On a human than should be quite a bit. As the first scans started she could see several repeated injuries to his right shoulder, and his knees were a bit of a mess. There were several old stab and gunshot wounds to his torso and damage to his ribs that were going to get a full treatment too.

"Here we go." She warned him as she started the healing process.

For Clint the sensation was strange. In some places he felt light fingers massaging his injuries. In his brain which held most of his attention the feeling as a light caress of warmth over the bridge of his nose and then he felt the warmth spread deeper. There were no nerves in the brain to perceive the penetration of the 'magic', but all the same he felt the light touch go inside his skull. The feeling was concentrated under his forehead. The sensation began to pulse softly. It felt like waves of heat, like when he's managed to find time to lay on the beach with the sun's rays soaking in. It was relaxing.

It wasn't long before the concentration of the soft waves had moved to other parts of his body. His knees and shoulders, which he'd felt small aches and pains worsening over time, were soaking up the power and he smirked. Kara was a good upstanding hero, he should have known she wouldn't pass up a chance to heal more than just his head.

"You are sneaky." He whispered to her. Both Kara and Loki looked towards him.

"I learned from the best." She smirked back proudly.

"From me?" Loki asked playfully. Clint could tell the machine had worked, because he no longer felt the overwhelming urge to break Loki in half for failing to complete the mission, or for taking control of his mind. Not that he realized until now that the first part was even a reason for his dislike of the alien.

Kara snorted loudly. "Hardly, mother taught me everything I needed to know about being deceitful."

Loki sighed as if offended but his own grin made it obvious he was amused. "Where did you think I learned it?"

Kara laughed. "Certainly not for anyone else we know."

Even Clint had to laugh at that, through the speakers they heard Thor laugh along with them. Nat's light breath on the speakers told him she'd managed to keep her amusement to herself.

"Are you alright?" Natasha asked Clint once the lights that were doing the deeper healing dimmed.

"I'm going to be better than new when I get out." He looked towards where the camera was so Natasha could read his facial expression. "Sneaky girl over here is fixing more than just my head, which is feeling better than before. My torn rotator cuff and my knees are both being fixed up too."

Kara looked over the machine and read the readout on his injuries. "It's just soft tissue damage being repaired, the Forge is using your body's abilities to regenerate it. You'll need a Thor or Captain Rogers sized portion of dinner to help replace the calories the machine is using to do so, and a good night's sleep afterwards." She admitted sheepishly.

Clint chuckled and threw her a grateful smile and wink to let her know he wasn't angry. "I'm not going to complain about the healing. Next time, be upfront about it." He warned her with a soft growl.

She took his rebuke at face value. "I promise. Even if it was to help you, I really should have asked first."

Loki sighed in exasperation and hugged her from behind. "You need to learn to not take friendly criticism so hard. Even without directing the Soul Forge to do so, it would have started healing those injuries anyway while it worked on his head. That is the function of the Forge after all."

Kara's brow crinkled. "I haven't had many friends, so I guess I do take their 'rebukes' more seriously."

Clint smiled as he was now a little more certain of her intentions, and he was appreciative of her thoughtfulness. "Well, it was meant as a friendly reminder, next time, ask first please. Or at least warn a guy."

Kara nodded and sat back to explain what the machine was fixing. Clint was interested in the machine's ability to stimulate the body to reproduce tissue that normally wasn't reproducible, like brain matter. It didn't replace the memories lost, but it could replace the missing cells so skills could be relearned. Impossible to heal injuries like spinal cord injuries could be fixed within hours, and the cervical nerves could be regenerated. The person would still need to relearn how to walk. It would just be guaranteed, instead of a slim to none possibility. Unfortunately this technology was currently out of Earth's reach since they couldn't manipulate the 'magic' needed to operate it.

Clint felt honored that she was willing to use it for more than the magical damage and made sure she knew he was thankful for the extra healing. Loki had been smiling proudly at her in the background. Once Clint was up he'd moved away so Clint could approach him when he was ready.

It only took as long as it took for him to thank Kara before he walked up to Loki and put out his hand. "I guess we are really meeting for the first time now."

Without the blue haze Clint was able to remember things that he'd brushed aside before. Like Loki sitting quietly meditating and then suddenly lurching sideway as if he'd been hit in the head. He also remembered seeing large scars and burns covering most of his body in the first few days before Stuttgart. The blue haze hadn't wanted him to remember that. It had wanted him to see that Loki as his leader, that was all.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am proud to meet, and greet you as a fellow warrior." Loki grabbed his arm just below the elbow. Clint instant recognized it as an old style greeting and returned it.

"I am Agent Clint Barton of SHIELD, and an Avenger. I am proud to meet, and greet you as a fellow warrior." He had no idea if what he'd done was right, but when in doubt copy the guy with the best manners. It had served him well so far in his life.

Loki smiled and laughed. "Well done." Kara looked on with glee.

"Now we just need to get Selvig here and hopefully we can heal him then go back to Asgard." She remarked as she placed her hands on their shoulders.

It took several days and a 'portkey' before Selvig was convinced to go to the Fortress for his healing. Loki was not to come anywhere near him. He also was reluctant to go through with the healing if it would take the knowledge from his mind that the Tesseract had bestowed. Kara had promised to not remove any knowledge. The Soul Forge had taken quite some time on him. Like Clint she had heal some of his soft tissue damage, which there was quite a bit of due to age. Mostly joint regeneration was completed, and some minor organ repair (mostly his arteries and lung damage).

His brain was still a little scrambled. The Tesseract had written over certain parts of his frontal cortex, in part to make him more compliant, and more willing to do what was asked of him to make the doorway. The fact he'd managed to build a fail-safe into the device was a miracle. He had access to portions of the brain that most humans did not, and it was playing a little havoc with his behavior. The difference was still noticeable. He'd be considered eccentric or a little crazy now, rather than bat-shit insane as he had been before treatment. He's paranoia had also come down to a manageable level. Drugs would not be effective in treating him, and Kara was concerned for him. There was still some blue left behind. It was impossible to remove all the blue magic and not take the knowledge with it. Kara had warned him of the bit left behind and he had brushed her concern away.

Jane Foster had come through again. While they hadn't been on good terms this past year, the woman was still willing to drop everything and help Eric. Eric had not wanted her to be near SHIELD or Stark. As a result their relationship had suffered while he was on top secret projects, and she was trying in vain to build her Bifröst without much help from Kara, other than financial.

Selvig had agreed to move to her lab and work on the things the Tesseract had shown him, including helping Jane with her research. It was temporary, as SHIELD was going to want him back. Kara thought it unlikely he'd ever be able to pass the psych evaluation to get back on a science team. He was a walking, talking security risk. At least working with Jane out of a lab owned by the Starks the risk was being managed. SHIELD would want access to his knowledge, but not have him in their facilities and files. This really was the best of both worlds for everyone.

Darcy also took advantage of the situation to move out of her apartment and move to one on a different floor, so Selvig could be next door to Jane. The two needed a little more separation if Thor was going to be visiting in the future was Darcy's excuse. In truth it was because the other apartment was bigger and had a better view and a balcony she could sunbath on.

The next day Kara finally found time to confront Tony about his statements before his attempt at accessing the portal with the nuke.

"Tony!" Kara yelled as she entered the New York Penthouse. She saw Pepper, Happy and Darcy in the room and Tony was behind the bar looking a little nervous as she stormed into the room, he knew it was time to discuss her adoption. This was the first time they had a chance to discuss it since it was the first time she had been willingly away from Thor and Loki since the battle.

They were both at her apartment, trying to have a civil conversation about seiðr. Loki was giving Thor lessons in the basics; First year at Hogwarts type knowledge for a Muggleborn type basics. Kara was still wondering if she'd have an apartment when she returned. Loki could put seventh year Hermione Granger to shame with his condescending attitude when teaching first year type material. He'd been patient with her, but only because he knew he was only teaching theory, which was mostly 'read this and we will talk about it next time we meet to see if you understand it'. Thor had the unfortunate issue of having had these basics taught to him before and ignoring them. Something that Loki wasn't that good about forgiving.

Tony held up a decanter. "I have Crown Royal Rye, your favorite."

Before Tony could get a good ramble going Pepper stepped forward. "I should tell you that I approved of this idea before he did it." Her confession derailed Kara somewhat and she turned to her in disbelief.

"You approved!" Kara cried out. Pepper grabbed her in a hug that Kara reluctantly returned. "Why would you do that?" She asked with a confused and annoyed tone in her voice.

"Tony needs an heir, or heiress as the case may be, dudette." Darcy pipped up, she looked like she was having the time of her life jumping in and out of the Loki-Hulk hole in the floor. "Is your brother really this tall? Man, I have got to see if he's as climbable as he looked on TV." She chuckled as she looked back at Kara.

Kara turned her glare on Darcy as her words filled Kara with a rarely felt emotion from her, jealous anger. "Yes he is that tall. Try it and I'll cut off your arms."

Darcy chuckled but smiled and backed up with her hands up. "Don't shoot. I'm unarmed in the only good way there is, and I'm so not going to fight you for him. Though I am sure he's godly enough to fight for, I'm just not going to fight _you_ for him."

Happy snorted but quickly straighten up when Kara's gaze swung to him. "Is he in the know?" Kara asked.

Tony nodded slowly. "I needed him to witness and he wanted to know why before he let me sign away my fortune."

Kara sighed and sat heavily on the sofa. It groaned loudly but stayed on its feet. "Why me?"

Pepper shot Tony a look that told him to let her handle it, and even Darcy understood to back off so she headed over and sat at the bar to watch her idol at work.

"You know about what happened when Stane tried to take over the company." Pepper started. Everybody who was close to Tony knew about what happened with Stane. He'd tried to kill Tony so he'd be the sole majority owner of SI.

"Since then Happy, Rodney and I have been Tony's heirs in case he manages to kill himself in that suit of his." Pepper's voice had a hint a fury under the surface. Kara had a feeling she was still working on the anger she felt with Tony for going through the wormhole.

"If that happens SI would be torn apart if the three of us don't always agree." She looked a little concerned on that score. "I'll be honest I don't think we'll agree enough to keep SI on the track it is on right now if we do split the company."

Kara agreed silently. Rodney for all his assurances that he wouldn't share the Iron Patriot Armor with the US Air Force was a military man. He'd want the company to start building weapons for the US again. Something that at this point with the types of weapons Tony had designed for his suit could not be placed in the hands of people like General Ross or Talbert, both of whom should be very glad they had never met Kara in person so far.

"And you think making me your daughter will make everyone back down and not fight me when the time comes that something happens to you." Kara snarled at him, "You who won't even let me take the shrapnel out of your chest! I could fix that!"

Tony sighed. "As part of my apology to you for going behind your back to do this, I will let you removed the damn shrapnel." He gave her his best puppy eyes, which were just pathetic. "I trust you to do what is right for the company and for Earth. That's not something I can say for Rodney, and I consider the man my best friend. That's another reason why he's not in the know. I don't know that I can trust him not to tell your secret."

Kara just sighed. "Why not just give him money and not part of the company… Why go down this road?"

"Honestly?" Pepper said to regained her attention. "We are hoping with the official announcement that you are Tony's daughter and heir that SHIELD is going to back off Kara Stark."

Kara snorted. "How do you figure that? It's never gotten them to back off before."

"Actually it did." Tony chimed in. "Coulson put a 'do not approach Kara Stark' order out a little before Christmas last year. His reason was you were likely my biological daughter and pissing me off was not in SHIELD's best interest."

"And Coulson is now dead." She ran her hands through her hair as he duck her head to hide her face. Mentioning the Agent was still hard for her. She'd actually liked the man.

"The order still stands. And Tony's little statement on the open comm had SHIELD scrambling to find out what they can about you, but the order still stands." Pepper repeated as she filled in the blanks for her.

"They are trying to see if there is any connection to Loki since Kara Stark looks like a female Loki." Happy added primly from his spot by the door. "There have been several attempts to see what you were doing during Loki's arrival. We allowed them access to the surveillance video when they asked since you were in the lab at the time and we had the footage to prove it. JARVIS was ready if an emergency popped up, but SHIELD never got any footage that told them otherwise."

Kara nodded slowly. She knew SHIELD sometimes did that. They also would tap into the live feed at times too. JARVIS and Brainiac were quick to clue her in when it was happening. She recalled that happening a few hours after Thor's arrival. She had been on her way to New Mexico at the time so they had only seen her empty lab at the time.

"So what happens now?" Kara crossed her arms over her chest petulantly. "Kara is now a 'real Stark'?"

Pepper nodded sternly. "Legally on Earth yes, Kara Stark is now a 'real Stark'. There will be some scrutiny. Hopefully we can get that dealt with quickly. Its old news that you are Tony's daughter as far as the media is concerned." Pepper reminded her. "No one is really going to care, and it's not as if SHIELD can do anything about it. Kara is likely going to need to do an interview with SHIELD's Director Fury."

Kara growled and stared at Tony. "You just had to go and do this without talking to me. Do you have any idea just how bad this could screw things up on Asgard?"

Pepper, Tony and Happy all looked shocked as they had obviously not considered that. Darcy decided to drop the truth on the other three. "Totally patriarch warrior society, by becoming your dad Tony's pitted himself against the Queen of Asgard. Odin has to accept you as his, and supersede Tony's claim, or ignore it and you lose your honorary Princess status." Darcy laid out for them. "Totally should have check with me first Mr. Daddy Warbucks."

Pepper looked concerned and bit her lip. "I had not thought of that." She admitted. "I was only concerned with US inheritance laws."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Well luckily most of Asgard and especially Odin considers Midgardians to be nothing more than animals, primates at best, so as far as Odin is concerned I can't be adopted by monkey, hopefully." She glared at all of them. "No one in this room is ever to admit they know for a fact Supergirl is Kara Stark. Clint and Steve know, but they're the only Avengers other than Tony who knows right now."

They all agreed and Kara stalked off and took off for her apartment from the balcony.

"Did we really possibly mess up her life on Asgard?" Pepper asked Darcy.

Darcy thought for a moment and shook her hand side-to-side. "She gets a ton of authority from her position as Ambassador. Take that away, and she gets persuaded by assholes like Ross and Fury. But she is right in that Asgard isn't going to throw away a big strong warrior like her over the adoption of a tribe of monkeys."

"That's not something I had thought of. Blue doesn't act like that's how she grew up thinking of us." Tony took a deep sip from his glass. In all the conversations he'd imagined in his head, Kara being this upset over his adopting her hadn't been a consideration. He'd thought she might be concerned or upset about the not telling her first bit, and he had meant to, but the battle happened too quickly. He'd filled the paperwork about six months ago and forgot about it since even with his clout adoption of anyone, minor or adult took time. She'd been still too upset, and Barry had left not long before at the time. She had still been watching the computers with a close eye, looking for signs of Barry's return back then.

"That's because Frigga is kick ass and wouldn't let her absorb that type of shit thinking." Darcy told them proudly. "Thor had that knocked out of him by 'yours truly' and Janie. Don't know what Loki thinks, but like Kara he was closer to Frigga than Odin because of his magic."

"Can we limit the exposure of the news?" Tony asked Pepper. "It was a closed adoption right?"

Pepper nodded quickly. "All adoptions of minors are confidential, even emancipated minors like Kara Stark have a right to privacy."

"Someone would have to go looking for that on purpose." Happy added. "Only anyone who was tapped into your comms knows about it."

"Which would be just the Avengers and certain SHIELD people like Maria Hill," Tony said thinking out loud. "Pepper you should call Fury and explain that no one is to know about the adoption and I will personally destroy any server that does mention it."

JARVIS spoke up. "The information is right now only on Fury's private server, however there has already been some chatter on SHIELDs email and internal chatting that mentions her as certain clearance level 7 people have been ordered to investigate her. There is some chatter of the adoption so far, but nothing at the lower levels. All of it is with high status agents like Barton."

"Let's make sure it stays that way." Pepper ordered firmly as she reached for her cell phone and began to make a few calls. "And let's see if we can get even that quashed."


	11. Chapter 11

SOA Part 3

Chapter 11 – The Return to Asgard

Several days past and Thor, Kara and Loki could no longer put off returning to Asgard. The ravens Huginn and Muninn had come with an official summons for all three, plus the Tesseract and the Destroyer. Interestingly enough was the summons for Loki had not been for him to be returned as a prisoner, just for him to return to present himself to the Royal Court.

Kara had retrieved the robot from an abandoned Army base in New Jersey. The group decided that might be the best place to travel from as to not draw attention to the fact that Supergirl was going off-world. On the day they were to leave the whole group of heroes came together.

Natasha was warmer to the other members of The Avengers and The Asgard Royalsthan in the past. Clint had talked to her and explained everything Zor El had done to earn his respect, except her personal healing abilities. No one but he knew of that now that Coulson was dead. Only Fury, Hill and a few techs and directors at NORAD and NASA knew where Supergirl had been to heal before the battle, and only Fury and Hill of those people knew she had been hurt at the time of her 'sunbath'. When Fury had asked Clint had played dumb about how she healed. The director wasn't stupid but even he had no idea she was solar powered for certain.

Laura Barton had also given Natasha an earful, not that anyone else knew that. Laura had called Nat after Clint had told her about the extra healing that Kara had done for him, without asking. Laura had laughed over that, but truthfully she had been grateful for it too. She was of the opinion that it was better to ask forgiveness when it came to helping her husband and didn't blame Kara at all for not bothering to get it first.

She'd ripped into Natasha over her holding a grudge since she didn't have a leg to stand on. She'd earned her red ledger Laura had reminded her, Loki had his pushed upon him by the mind-control, same as Clint has during this whole episode. She had added that holding Zor El accountable was just stupid. She hadn't used magic against them, and she wasn't even aware that Loki was alive at the time. Only because Nat respected Laura more than anyone else on the planet, except Clint, did she truly listen and not feel defensive when being lectured like a toddler about learning to share her toys.

Natasha had agreed to give them all a chance, even Banner, whom of all of them still scared her most. She was still keeping her distance from most of them and staying close to Clint since she had made a bit of a bad impression on the rest of them. She had smiled as genuinely as she was capable of at the others as she said her goodbyes. It was more than she had done in the past and Kara had reciprocated with a warm smile of her own, though she kept a respectful distance from the assassin whom she could tell wasn't as comfortable as she pretended to be.

Clint had stayed by Nat, but his words were warm and given with a laugh and good humor. He was physically supportive too, whispering in her ear and hugging her. If Kara hadn't heard his words she'd have thought Widow still hated her. His whisper of, "see they will give you a chance if you try", had helped cement her feelings of being open to her attempts to be friendly.

Tony was holding court. He was playing up the 'big brother' role to Kara since he wasn't 'Supergirl's dad' as far as The Avenger's knew. He kept his arm around her shoulder as much as possible. He ribbed her about not dating anyone, talking to strangers, or taking drinks from anybody she didn't know unless her brothers were around. Kara kept rolling her eyes, but she had blushed a few times when Tony had touched on her dating anyone.

She'd only been summoned back to Asgard once in her life, and that had been for Thor's coronation. This time it could be for quite some time. Tony didn't like that part much, he was trying to get as much time with her as he could get before she left. He rarely bonded with people, but when he did, he didn't like when they left him, even if it was for a short time.

Steve was standing mostly with Banner in the back of the group, but a part of the goodbyes. He'd had a more private and warm goodbye with Kara earlier. He'd asked to see her privately. He'd taken the time to give an 'honest to gosh' apology, only he was capable of pulling off sincerely. She'd made sure he knew she didn't hold a grudge for his comments when they met. He'd managed a proper warrior goodbye with both Thor and Loki. Thor's announcement to all in hearing distance that Steve was an honorable as any Asgardian warrior had been cut down by Loki's, "You do not know many honorable warriors, but he does speak the truth regardless".

Steve cracked a smile over their sibling rivalry, which seemed more brotherly today than in two days earlier (Loki and Thor had nearly come to blows over a roast chicken at dinner). The comment was something he'd have said to Bucky back in the day. He'd been a little more snarky as a small street rat than he'd been as a super soldier.

Banner was more subdued but no less earnest in his hopes to see the three once more. Kara had spoken to him privately before moving on to the others. She had told him that from her vantage point during the battle, she could see Hulk co-operating with the other Avengers, and his attempt to save both herself and Tony as they fell. She also had told him about Hulk's warning in the elevator. The fact that Hulk could talk and make himself understood surprised Banner. He'd always imagined Hulk as a rage monster as Tony had called him. Her faith that Hulk could be taught and trained had warmed his heart, even as it still managed to fill him with fear. If anyone could contain Hulk if he got out of control, it would be her. Though privately he knew deep down he was stronger than even 'Supergirl', he hoped she was right that Hulk liked her enough that he might see training as a game to play with her. She wouldn't get hurt playing with him, and if she did, she had a Soul Forge to fix anything.

Beyond the Avengers, Pepper, Happy, Darcy and Jane Foster had all come. Thor had managed to spend some of the past two days with Jane in New York (Darcy had come with her on a Stark Jet as soon as she'd gotten off the phone with Kara the morning after the battle). Loki had gotten to meet her. That had been a fun visit.

 _Jane had walked into Kara's apartment and walked directly up to Loki and hauled off and slapped him. "That's for threatening to hurt me a year ago." She had stated firmly._

 _Loki had grinned widely. "Oh, I approve of this one." He had said over her head to Thor with a huge smile on his face._

 _Jane hadn't taken kindly to him talking over her head so she had hit him again. "That's for your part in breaking the Bifröst."_

 _Loki had looked down at her in amusement but nodded his acceptance. "Is there any other grievances you wish to hit me for, My Lady?"_

 _Jane had held her ground in the face of his amusement and just glared at him. She stared him down for a moment before she shrugged. "I'll let you know if I think of something."_

Strangely enough that had earned her quite a few points in Loki's book. He had engaged her in a few conversations to gauge where she was in her own Bifröst construction and came away impressed that for someone who could barely read signs of seiðr (which was more than most mortals, they rest weren't even aware it existed) that she had managed to come so far. He had pointed in a slightly different direction for her research that would bring her closer to her goal as a result. He'd also promised to visit her lab when he was next on Earth to allow her to measure readings when he performed magic. Overall Loki and Jane had hit it off and Thor couldn't be happier about it, though he did feel a bit left out of their more technical conversations. Kara had laughed at him and told him to pay attention to his seiðr lessons and he'd be able to understand it all soon. Thor had pouted for several minutes before he sighed and agreed with her.

Darcy was another that Loki got along well with, though her speaking patterns drove him insane. He admired that in her, not many people were able to get under his skin the way Darcy could. Kara had been unsure if leaving the two of them alone in a room was a good idea, and had made sure to stay close then they were together. Not that she was jealous or anything. They had a few interesting conversations about the status of the Midgardian governments. Loki had been even less impressed then before about the state of the World governments and secret agencies like SHIELD. He did admire the way Darcy was able to keep it all straight in her head. He walked away from the conversation with her ecstatic that she worked for Kara and not SHIELD, or the World Council. With a few more years training she could be a huge asset to Asgard as a member of their diplomatic advising team, especially if she kept tutoring under the Lady Pepper. He'd also confided to Kara that Darcy was smarter than she seemed, and could be dangerous in her own way. Kara already knew that, but she believed in Darcy's heart, which is why she was working for Kara in her lab and not in an office in Washington. Darcy cared too much to risk being swallowed whole by government officials and paperwork.

Selvig was not there. He had stayed home with his computer, typing away the mysteries of the universe, or hand-writing pages when the computer fonts failed to provide the right symbols. He had helped to design the casing that was around the Tesseract. Loki was going to use his sky-walking magic to activate it, but the case was designed so the three of them, and the Destroyer could all be transported together smoothly. Loki usually traveled alone or with only one person holding his hand, so he needed something to stabilize everyone and the Tesseract.

The four stood on each side of the device and Loki activated the cube. There was a bright flash of light before the four appeared at the observatory several seconds later. The Destroyer held the casing with the Tesseract in its hands as the three moved into their pre-established positions.

All three had decided that they needed to present a united front. Thor would be in the center of their formation with Loki on his right, and Kara on his left, their ranks establishing their places. They would walk abreast of each other to the palace. Any attempt to separate them would see the others defend the first. Kara and Loki's paranoia about the Council had infected Thor as well over the course of the last two days. Darcy had been a great help in convincing Thor that they had a point.

" _Dude they are so going to blame everything on him." Darcy had explained to Thor. "If they don't than they have to admit they were trying to under mind him. Your buddies did that and are being punished. What will happen to those old fogies if daddy dearest believes Loki and Kara over them? Even more important is daddy already took Kara's word for what happened over that of Asgard's four finest. They need him to be guilty, and if they can make him look bad before he arrives all the better for their plans, dude."_

" _To be fair, it was only two. The Lady Sif and Hogun were the only two who claimed they had done what was best for Asgard, regardless of the outcome." Thor had said uncertain. Volstagg and Fandral had told a very similar story to Kara's letter. They had been believed over Sif and Hogun._

 _Darcy waved it away. "Doesn't matter, because the Council tried to under mind Loki's plans that were required due to a treaty they helped write. They put Asgard at risk. They caused Loki to kill the Frost Giant King and his guards when his plans failed because he had backing he could depend on, then the incident with the Bifröst, that was a continuation of their lack of support." Kara always found it funny that Darcy could lose the 'millennial speak' when debating. "He only did that because he couldn't trust the warriors to follow him because of your friends. Nor could he trust the diplomatic outcome because of the council's actions in undermining his authority, which had been given to him by the Queen herself. His actions were the only ones left to him after both groups openly defied him."_

" _So they are also partly responsible for the Bifröst's destruction?" Thor has asked uncertainly._

" _Hell no!" Darcy had told him sternly. "You and Loki are to blame equally for that. But they aren't going to want to blame that on you. You're the future king. They want your approval. Blaming you for your actions and your transgressions, won't help them later when they want you to keep them as your council." She emphasized her point by poking him in the chest, hard. Since he was in a thin shirt at the time and Darcy's nails were acrylic, Thor actually rubbed his chest when she jabbed him with it._

" _And that's what caused your swelled head in the first place." Kara reminded him casually from the couch she was reclining on. She had been trying to relax while in the room with Thor and Loki. That was an evolving situation at best. "Never being held accountable for your mistakes has always been an issue."_

 _Thor had taken the words to heart without anger clouding his judgement since the criticism wasn't being made to be malicious, it was given to be informative. Even Loki had an admiring smirk on his face as he nodded along with Darcy's explanation._

The following day Thor had insisted when they returned that they would equal in all things. If the Allfather and the Council wished to arrest Loki for the Bifröst, they would have to arrest them all. Loki had argued that Kara was blameless in any actions regarding the Bifröst, but she had agreed with Thor.

" _No, he's right." Kara had stood by the idea. "It could have easily been you and I held sway by the scepter, and not Thor. If they had wanted to arrest you and me for that, then Thor would have stood with us. This is the same. If Thor requires them to arrest him and me if they arrest you, they are stuck having to deal with us all on every issue. They can't divide and conquer us. We have to stand together at all times."_

Heimdall stood in his post along with the Skurge as they stood strong in front of the two guardians. Heimdall didn't seem surprised to see them, his face as stoic as always. Skurge had been lying down on the dais that held the remains of the pedestal. He had been talking at Heimdall when they arrived. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed his sword, drawing it out and standing before them waving it about haphazardly as his eyes shifted to the three back and forth quickly.

Kara took offence and shot the weapon out of his hand with her heat vision. The sword went clattering to the ground as the man howled in a tiny bit of pain, but more from surprise from the light burn she'd put on his hand through his gauntlet and the suddenness of the attack.

"We were summoned to Asgard and you draw weapons against us?" Thor's angry voice boomed through the enclosed space.

"I didn't know you were coming." Skurge sulked as he held his wounded hand to his chest.

Kara raised her brow and looked to Heimdall for an answer. "I was waiting for him to allow me a moment to get a word in to inform him of your pending arrival." He told them calmly. He had a slight smirk on his face as he continued to watch past them to the Cosmos and the Void.

Skurge pouted even deeper as the knowing smiles pasted between the gatekeeper and the Princes of Asgard. All the warriors knew of Skurge's inability to keep his mouth shut for any long period of time. The man loved to hear himself speak.

"We are expected." Thor announced. Kara and Loki stood at his sides as promised but allowed him to take point as was his due as Crown Prince.

Heimdall nodded deeply. "You are Prince Thor, Prince Loki and Princess Kara." He paused a moment and sadly look to Loki and offered Loki a knee and salute of respect. "May I be the first to welcome you home my Prince, and offer my deepest apologies for my many transgressions against you."

Loki was amazed. It wasn't often that someone could surprise him. Heimdall had not trusted Loki in so long that this sudden deferment of respect was almost foreign to him. He blinked several times before he nodded regally.

"Please rise to your feet, honored Gatekeeper." Loki managed to say quietly. "Our methods might not be similar in all things, but we both serve Asgard, to the best of our knowledge and abilities."

He waited for Heimdall to rise. He still kept his head bent subserviently. "I try, though at times my judgement was not always fair."

Loki actually chuckled at the admission. "At least you have the courage to admit it is so."

Most might think that meant Loki had forgiven the gatekeeper. But Kara knew he hadn't, but the warrior had gone a long way in redeeming himself to the second prince. Loki would give him a chance to prove himself without condemning him outright. Kara also was feeling much more forgiving than she had previously. Heimdall was an excellent guardian most of the time. It had only been with Loki and Thor where his judgement had been an issue in her opinion. Hopefully he would be fair from now on.

Skurge looked pouty. "I thought he was to be brought to court in chains and muzzled?" He asked looking to Heimdall.

All three royals drew weapons and advanced as one towards him. Heimdall laughed loudly. "If you wish to try and do as the councilman asked, by all means. I will see that your family gets what is left of your body for burial." He actually looked away from the Void to look at the younger warrior; his amusement was obvious when he looked at those in the room.

Skurge was not a coward. Stupid and lazy yes, but he had never been a coward. Even he knew that without an order from Odin the councilman's orders could be ignored. As the summons had been issued to Prince Loki Odinson, he was not inclined to actually try an arrest Loki on what could be false charges, especially when it meant _if_ he managed to survive the outcome, he'd likely be executed anyway. If he did as the councilman requested and there were no outstanding charges, chaining and muzzling a Prince could be seen as treason.

Skurge shook his head, "I have no intention of following those orders unless they come from my King." He said wisely. Heimdall was surprised by the show of intelligence, but the other three still looked 'battle ready'.

"You had better not, or I will literally cut you in half." Kara snarled, her eyes lit and her sword in hand.

Loki was the first to vanish his daggers, Thor quickly followed his lead and allowed Mjölnir to hang in a resting state at his side. "I take it you were only asking to verify your orders then?" Loki asked, giving the stupid warrior an honorable way to save face. Thor grabbed Kara's wrist and gave it a tight squeeze reminding her to hold her temper. Skurge was thoughtless, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be useful in the coming days. And if the council was using him to spy on Heimdall, then it would be useful to know what he was reporting to them. He could easily be tricked into telling secrets if Loki needed them later.

Kara looked to Loki with aggravated disbelief. He smirked at her as Skurge scramble to accept Loki's justification of his actions.

"Of course, My Prince." He bowed putting his neck out and his eyes on the floor in a show of submission. "I serve the crown, and wish to not commit any offence." He shivered a little knowing that Kara could kill him. He unfortunately believed the stories of her heritage being that of Frost Giant decent due to her ice powers and red glowing eyes, which at that moment he was thankful to see they were blue once more.

Loki dismissed him with a simple wave as Skurge stood up. Without another word the three retook their stance and walked as three equals outside.

Right outside the observatory, three horses stood, with three grooms holding their bridles; one warhorse, and two mares. The three ignored them. They'd discussed this very issue two days prior. By Thor riding a stallion, and a war trained horse while the other two rode mares or even geldings, the imagery cast them as under Thor's authority. By ignoring it and the three walking, they projected an air that had not been seen on Asgard in many ages past. It also was a strong image to project as they walked the Bridge and the road to the Palace as a united team.

Not that they truly were a team as of yet. Loki and Thor had nearly come to blows several times over the past three days. Only the threat of breaking Kara's hospitality had kept the peace truthfully. The two brothers were being civil to each other, though they had a few moments of camaraderie. Those times were quickly shrugged off by Loki once he realized he was acting sentimentally. Kara and Thor had shared smirks over the moments; both were hopeful that Loki would come around sooner rather than later.

It was going to take some time before Loki could let go of his fear of Thor turning on him. Thor had been vowing to kill all Frost Giants since Loki was a toddler. Thor's one hundred and eighty degree attitude on the issue still boggled his mind. Kara had the ability to change her mind that quickly, but she was still within her 'mortal life-span'. Thor had been in this mindset for nearly eight centuries! To Loki it was as if in less than three days on Midgard Thor had completely had changed his world view of Frost Giants and other races! It was too much for Loki to accept this simply.

That of course was the true reason Loki couldn't trust Thor. The reason he gave was Thor's change in personality seemed inconsistent. As the favored son, he had told Thor, he expected him to fall back into line with whatever Odin deemed as 'Right and Just', regardless of his own opinion.

Thor's issues stemmed from breaking those same ruts. He was trying, but when he fell into an unthinking moment and he'd tease, or say something in jest that was not meant to be offensive, Loki took them badly. He'd use such moments to attack Thor verbally, making Thor unsure of himself, and less carefree. Without Kara to play referee things would not have been as easy between the two adopted brothers.

Kara had banged their heads together (literally and figuratively) and told them to both get off the high-horses (which had led to the horse discussion actually). Loki's main grievance against Odin was valid, his one against Thor was also valid, but in part Odin's fault. Thor was trying, so Loki was trying to hold his temper in check and not be aggravating on purpose. Thor had been asked to keep in mind that he still needed to make it a priority in his mind to consider both Kara and Loki his equals, and not his servants.

That had led to both brothers tearing into her about her temper. She was to be as in control as she was requiring of them. They both tore into her about her own temperament, and her quick use of her Heat Vision, knowing it scared the crap out of many in Asgard when she allowed her eyes to become red. Loki had actually snarled at her when she had tried to defend her use of it. She had lost the argument when she lost her temper and stormed out of the room.

When she finally calmed down she had been embarrassed and agreed to try and cool her hair trigger. She could do it, but she had been away from Asgard and their expectations of regal bearing for too long. Living with Tony didn't help her to remembering to control her emotions. She was always professional when she was Supergirl. Even when the criminals she sometimes stopped tried to annoy her, she managed to keep her professional cool. Her use of the power when they arrive was a matter of defense and it looked to her as if neither brother was going to call her on it, other than Thor's warning squeeze to release it when they had been facing Skurge.

Loki had been less than pleased with her plan to be a team when they had sat down and hashed out the details. He knew it was his best bet for staying out of the dungeons for the rest of his life, which was the only reason he consented to try it out and was making an effort. Thor was actually pleased with it, because he honestly thought it would be for the best. Asgard was in danger if the three of them remained at odds. Asgard's enemies would be looking for weaknesses. A divide Royal Family was a breeding ground for weaknesses that could be exploited by anyone willing to take a chance. Loki's lessons had gotten that much through to him. If something happened to Odin, Asgard's defenses could not be raised unless he allowed Loki to take control of the Odinforce. Without trust between the two of them, Asgard would be defenseless.

The three grooms tried to gain their attention, but the three continued as if they hadn't heard or seen the grooms. It was a long walk to the Palace. Kara figured it would take at least two hours with the long strides of her brothers (Kara managed to make her shorted strides match by gliding a half inch above the ground). One of the grooms must have figured out that they were not going to take the horses. He convinced the other two to mount them and ride them back to the Palace to announce the procession in advance.

By the time they reached the city gates of Asagarth, the streets were lined with people. Here it was obvious that the common people were glad to see the return of their lost Prince. There were cheers for all of them, but most were of welcome returns for Loki.

"Welcome Home Prince Loki!" and "Hail _The Norns_ for your safe return our Prince." Many other cries for Loki were heard.

Others were cries for them all. Several times they were stopped as children ran up and handed Kara flowers, or other favors to Loki and Thor. They indulged the children, but shook their heads to the adults who made to approach them. It was common for the children to give pieces of their art, or craft, to show the royals they were working to become productive members of society. Others would show their training daggers, or swords, and even a few of the children cast minor cantrips to show their magical skills. This made the procession much longer, but it had the added bonus of relaxing Loki. His guard was still up, but his attitude was softened. Being welcomed warmly by the people had not been something Loki had even considered. Most of the people coming were coming for him, not for Thor.

Kara couldn't keep the smile off her face as he kneeled down to let a young girl cast her magical light in his palm. Behind her stood her older brother and he was holding his blunt wooden training dagger incorrectly. Loki kindly corrected his grip and gave him an encouraging smile. Thor too shared a look with Kara when he noticed the exchange too. This was the Loki they missed. The one who cared for the people and wasn't afraid to show it.

Kara's arms were quickly filled with flowers and Loki had helped her by opening her storage space since he had yet to return her pendant permanently. Thor was mostly approached by the boys starting on bows or sword training, instead of the earlier daggers.

When they had first seen the children Loki had passed to Kara and Thor unending candy bags that he kept for these types of events. Much like a Midgardian parade the royals passed candy to the children as they passed them or was pleased with their efforts. Being the middle of the day and without prior notice the procession itself wasn't as much of a delay as it could have been. The size was large enough that it showed those at the Palace, if they were watching, how the public masses were taking Loki's return. To say he was being well received was an understatement.

Thor had been concerned about Loki's welcome due to the rumors that blamed Loki for the destruction of the Bifröst. It seemed the people didn't believe it. It could have also been the presence of Kara and more importantly Thor welcoming him, and not dragging him in chains that made the rumors seem false. Their welcome made the crowd question the rumors, or discard them. Only an ignorant savage would interrupt a child's tribute with boorish behavior like questioning the Royals during the impromptu parade.

As they reached the more affluent areas nearer the palace, the tone of the procession changed. Several nobles held their children back from approaching Loki. One such mother had a look of anger on her face as Loki came closer. She looked as if she might say something when she happened to see the look Thor and Kara were giving her. The woman blanched and her grip slackened on her son. He rushed forward to show Loki his skill in magic. There was a gasp among some of the adults. It was still considered an argr skill among the nobility despite Loki and Odin's abilities with seiðr.

Thor thought it a good time to shame the woman, and the men, when Loki's jaw clenched and his smile turned brittle. He obviously was trying not to get angry in front of the child. Thor wanted to bring out Mjölnir to start bashing heads in for bringing Loki's mood down. Instead Thor kneeled down beside the boy. "Can you show me that? My brother has been trying to teach me, and I am not very good at it as of yet." He asked in his carrying voice.

The young boy's eyes widen in pleasure as he showed Thor his spell that created a mist around his fingers. "But it's so easy Prince Thor, see!" The mist grew and wrapped itself around his fingers as the child placed his own hand over Thor's massive paw-sized palm.

Thor made an effort to copy the child. He managed to produce a small spark of lightening to dance around their fingers. There was another gasp around the adults. They began gossiping to each other in hushed whispers with startled stares.

"Ah see, while I can draw some seiðr, it gets tangled with my aspect. I fear you are much more talented than I will ever be." He patted the child on the shoulder carefully. "It is a great skill. Loki has saved my life more times than I can count, once with the very spell you are casting I believe." He turned to Loki to see if he had guessed correctly.

Loki's eyes were a little wide with surprise at Thor's actions. "Yes, on a larger scale, that spell is the one I have used in the battle. We retreated thanks to that spell when we got caught too far ahead of the rest of the army, and we were then able to regroup. That was the day we defeated Ulik and the Rock Trolls near the Central Mountains."

Thor laughed heartily and smiled at the boy. "See, even the simplest of spells in the hands of an Arch Mage and Master, such as Loki, can save the lives of warriors, making themselves the true heroes of the day."

The boy smiled in awe and quickly nodded his head. "I'll remember that, Prince Thor." The boy whispered. He turned and bowed respectfully to Loki. "Thank you for your time Prince Loki." Loki gave the boy a fond looked and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Thor stood and smiled down at him and said something he had thought often in the past year, but had refrained from saying, thinking it was too little, too late. "Never let the opinion of ignorant others tell you that seiðr is not a worthy skill to master. It is as important as any other weapon on the field of battle. Often it is the only skill that can turn the tide of battle." He said with a smile towards Loki.

Loki stared at Thor as if he expected him to make one of his stinging jests. When Thor just stood there waiting for Loki to respond he gave the boy another true smile and also patted his head. His fingers glowed and the light passed into the boy. "Go with my favor Markus Stenson." He told the boy. His spell had identified the boy for him and marked him to other mages as a favored of 'Loki the Arch Mage of Asgard'.

The child nodded with wide-eyes of disbelief as he backed away, his eyes shining with gratitude. The mother was glaring even harder now at Loki, but didn't dare say a word. The father of the boy had come up during the scene and looked puzzled by Thor's words but when the three began to walk forward again with neither Kara nor Loki walking a step behind, he understood the significance of the gesture. No longer would people gossip about his child's skill. With Loki's personal favor the child was marked as a possible future apprentice of the 'Dark Prince of Asgard'. No one would question his abilities or skill again. Oh they would in private, but never in public as they had before. And if Loki did not take him, others would fight for the right to train his son.

Thor had placed his hand on Loki's shoulder as they passed the woman. The snub was blatant by both brothers. If Thor had hit her with Mjölnir and called her a whore in front of everyone, they could not have done more damage to her reputation. They both had, by not looking at her, or acknowledging her as the child's mother, stated she was unworthy of being the mother of a possible future apprentice of the Prince. A royal stub also meant she was unwelcome at any court they attended until she made reparations to their satisfaction. It was a lower form of what the Warriors Three and Sif's punishment was.

Kara ducked her head slightly to hide her pleasure at such a simple but powerful message. The fact it hadn't even needed to be suggested to Thor meant he was finally growing up, and learned some statecraft in the past year. She made a mental note to herself to thank her mother for her efforts.

The crowds there after were more welcoming, and less openly judgmental. Word spread faster than their progress through the streets of the incident with the young Stenson and his mother. No one else dared to even look at Loki with a look of disgust or hate. The children seemed bolstered by the news that Loki had favored a child and more approached them as they finished their journey through the Capital streets.

Not long afterwards the Palace Gates were directly ahead of them. They were opened immediately and their mother was waiting on the steps to greet her children. None were surprised when she broke protocol and ran forward only to throw herself at Loki and hug him tightly while tears slipped from her eyes.

"My beautiful boy!" She quietly murmured repeatedly in his ear as he hugged her back just as tightly.

"Mother… I'm so sorry." He whispered back, his words quiet and hidden from all but Kara and Frigga. His eyes shut tightly and his face a crumpled with surge of emotional agony being lifted from his soul with her welcome. Only a mother was capable of doing that by hugging and holding her child so tightly after a traumatic event. Frigga's hold was one such balm on Loki's tortured body and soul.

When she finally pulled back enough to see his face, she held his cheeks and stared into his eyes. "So much pain my son. We will rise from these ashes, my darling boy." She promised him with an assurance that lifted Kara's spirits, "We'll be stronger, and assured of our path going forward." Her tears still flowed down her face unchecked. Loki tried to wipe them away but she stopped him. "No, let them see my joy at your return Loki. Let them see the love of a mother who has had her child returned from the clutches of Death herself."

Loki looked long into her eyes, as much as he was angry at her for lying to him, he couldn't deny her at this moment. Her words, her actions, they all scream true to his senses. He could feel Kara's warm presence behind him. Whatever her aspect was, it was strong and emotional. Thor's aspect while quiet was also buzzing with his emotions. Between the four of them the scene was overwhelming and Loki tried to hide the tears that threaten to overwhelm him in that moment. He managed after a single sob of 'mother' to hold himself together.

The Einherjar standing guard over the scene moved to allow one more figure to greet the royal trio in the courtyard. The page stood erect and shaking with a little fear at facing all four of the royals at such a personal moment. Kara could see by his hesitation, he worried about giving offense, but he seemed to be under orders to hurry them along. Kara nudged Thor and pointed out the young boy. Thor looked over, his stance straightened. He knew they were testing Odin's patience by making him wait any longer. Their walk had likely angered the Allfather as it made the situation impossible to hide Loki's homecoming, or Thor, Frigga, and Kara's pleasure at his return.

It took several minutes before their mother could be made aware of the Page's presence. Once she was aware she had shot the boy a disappointed look that had him flinching. "Tell my husband we shall attend him soon." Her tone suggested she had other words she wish to add, but the child turned tail and walked as quickly as possible away before she could add more to her message.

The four were escorted toward the throne room. The press of nobles outside increased. The numbers suggested they had expected to attend some grand spectacle, but had been forced out of the hall some time ago. If Kara had to guess, she'd say about two hours before when Odin had been made aware of their return and the unprompted 'Parade of Welcome'.

Loki and Kara shared a look that conveyed to each other confirmation that the council at least had expected Loki to be returned in chains, and a show trial to be under taken this day. Frigga looked defiant as she walked with Loki, their pinky fingers still entwined. Thor was pretending to not see his mother's reluctant to allow Loki out of her reach. He stayed at Loki's left side, almost touched his shoulder with his. Kara too stayed as close as she could by standing at Thor's left. Both large doors had to opened wide to accommodate the four to enter the room as group. They walked down the central aisle together, with The Destroyer walking slowly behind them.

Odin had obviously planned to greet them in the audience portion of the Great Hall. His grand robes shone gold, and his spear Gungnir was clutched tightly in his fist as they came into the receiving area.

"My sons, and daughter… Welcome home." He said gruffly. His council stood behind him, most were neutral looking, but Seidring, the leader of the council looked annoyed. Kara assumed that meant he was likely livid, and was the one who had wanted Loki brought to the palace in chains. She had to work to keep her own face neutral.

Inside the hall some of the higher ranked nobles also were standing nearby. General Tyr was there, as were the other highest ranking members of the Army. All seemed confused by the procession into the hall, confirming Kara's worst fears. They had expected a trial, not a triumphant return. Their support of Loki had not been anticipated. Kara was relieved to see of all the advisors at least General Tyr seemed pleased to see Loki alive.

Frigga still had not let go of Loki's hand, she had reached out and grabbed Kara's, bringing her to her other side. Thor was wisely staying quiet, but his grin showed which side of his family he would side with. He made sure he stood on Loki's left side and clap his shoulder in a classic camaraderie type of celebratory gesture Thor was known for. Only then did he step forward to greet his father. As Thor moved to bend his knee as he reached the dais.

"I have returned with all the treasures of Asgard that you asked for Allfather." Thor told him triumphantly, "My beloved Brother and Sister, the long forgotten Tesseract, and The Destroyer." Thor's voice boomed and even the crowd outside the still open doors heard him. The Destroyer's hands opened to reveal the Tesseract to all in the room.

This had been planned. Thor wanted those outside the palace to know he supported his brother, even if people hadn't seen the procession it would be spoken of. This would be the talk of the Noble Court for days or weeks to come, and more importantly, their staff. Anything the nobles spoke of was sure to be overheard and repeated by the palace and noble staff to grocers, shopkeepers and merchants. Before long all of Asgard would know Thor supported Loki to Odin.

Odin's eye narrowed slightly, looking at Loki, Frigga and Kara. Kara narrowed her own eyes back, challenging him to make the coming confrontation public. It wouldn't help their case, but it would hurt Odin more if his reasons couldn't bring Thor to his side.

"We shall have our reunion in our private hall before we celebrate the return of the treasures lost to Midgard that have now been retrieved." Odin proclaimed loudly with his arms open as if he was welcoming them all warmly.

His cold glare was the only physical indication he gave them that he'd had other plans. Kara's side-eyed look at her mother proved that her actions, while heartfelt, had an additional motive. Frigga had a warning look on her face, one that Odin rarely ignored. Kara had last seen that look when Odin had declared Kara was to relocate to Midgard. Her mother's interference that day had seen Loki go with her to help her acclimate to Midgard instead of going alone as Odin had originally intended. It hadn't been malicious, just foolhardy. Odin was so old he'd forgotten how easily the young could be frightened of going out into the world on their own for the first time, worse still for a young girl who had already lost her planet.

Rarely would the Queen stand against her husband, and Kara had never heard of her doing so in public. Frigga always saved her rebukes for private, even away from Thor and Loki when they had been young. Kara had only been present twice when Frigga had stood her ground; both times the confrontations were about her situation. Frigga's actions on her behalf were provoked by other powers ( _The Norns_ mostly) and Odin had allowed Frigga's empathy to mitigate the situations to a softer and more compassionate conclusions.

Odin banged his spear's butt on the floor and the nobles quickly began to filter out the main doors while Odin turned to go to the side family hallway. A dozen Einherjar followed the procession to the family grand dining hall. It seemed the council would be joining them for their 'reunion' as they also followed behind the family.

The Family sat down first. Odin at the head of the Table, Thor at his left, their mother on his right. Loki was seated beside Frigga in Kara's usual seat while Kara sat beside Thor. It was more to accommodate their mother who had yet to release any even her minor physical hold on Loki. Even seated she had not released his hand. The council sat at the other end. That left several seats between Loki and Kara and the lowest members of the council.

Servants quickly entered and left plates of food and pitchers of wine for them and left, quietly closing the doors. Privacy wards visibly went up as the doors closed. The servant would know not to try and enter again until they opened the doors.

Odin didn't look up at the family at first. The silence was deafening. Kara had no intention of discussing anything in front of the council. She knew Loki wouldn't either. Peering quickly at Thor proved he was just as angry about the council staying at what should be a joyous reunion. She didn't even need to see her mother's face to know she also was disappointed in Odin.

Normal protocol required Odin to start the meal, but as he was acting like a prick, in her opinion, she decided to be a brat. She reached for her meat dish in front of her, some type of boar it looked like, speared five pieces and placed them messily onto her plate. She then began to reach for other dishes. Everyone stared, and Odin finally pulled his eye up from his plate to glare questioningly at her. Everyone was staring at her in degrees of amusement and horror.

"I'm not going to sit here and let the dinner get cold while people sit on their butts and sleep." She rolled her eyes, acting the perfect Midgardian teenager, bored at her parent's formal dinner table. _Darcy would be proud_ , Kara thought sarcastically.

"You will behave-" Odin began.

"No," Kara interrupted to gasps from all around her. She had never dared to be this rude to Odin before. Frigga was looking torn between protecting Loki from Odin and now needing to intervene on Kara's behalf. "This is a _Family meal_ , and we have never stood on ceremony before. I'm not going to start now just because those cretins gatecrashed _our Family Reunion!"_ She snarled with a jerk of her thumb towards the council members. No one missed the emphases on her words.

Half the council had the decency to look uncomfortable as they realized that was exactly what had happened. While they did have a valid reason for doing so, they had not gained the permission of the family before following.

"We have no intention of letting the Traitor ensnarl the King with his foul Seiðr as he has the two of you." The leader of the council Seidring announced scornfully.

The man was wearing his formal council robes; a blue, long-sleeved, mid-thigh length robe, with a leather breastplate over it. The breastplate was decorated with circles in gold, designating him as the leader of Odin's council.

"You are _not family_ so shut your trap _servant_ ," Was Kara's snarled response. She didn't even look at him. She was looking at Odin with a gleam of defiance. That added insult was sure to rile the vain and arrogant man to new heights. Of all the council members he was the one who hated Kara the most, and she in turn hated the sadistic ass. He'd been deeply offended by her fostering, and had even questioned the Queen regarding if she had seen _The Norns_ or just an illusionary practical joke. Frigga had not been amused.

Odin needed to make a choice right here and now. Either he took his own advice, and not push Kara in a way that might force her into the arms of the enemy. He either accepted her as a member of his family in this instant, or he could side with the council, who were usually careful to toe the line. Neither Odin, nor Kara, needed to look at her mother to know that if Odin did not side with Kara he would be not receiving any support of the Queen.

Most wouldn't consider Frigga much of a threat. Seidring obviously did not. The nobles and other royals of The Nine often did not remember the Queen herself was a 'Shield Maiden of Vanir' before she had become Queen of Asgard. They also didn't have to live in her household where she was literally, and figuratively, queen. Odin could override her word, but it would need to be done properly, no grand statement could be made to all in the household to serve him over her. If she ordered nothing be done for him and those that supported him, he would have to speak to every servant and ask for everything he needed; clothes washed, beds attended to, clothes laid out, drinks, food to be cooked, each time he required something, and they could refuse. Nor could he spend money from their personal accounts for anything. He would only have access to the Royal Treasury, which was used for the Army, not household affairs.

Fighting of this sort would not leave much time for governing his kingdom. That was the power of the women of their culture. Woman ruled the home and finances; men led men, and oversaw the safety of the Realm.

Odin also knew the council wanted Loki locked up for life. Looking from Thor, to Kara, and finally to his wife, he knew they would not win that fight. Against them all the council would lose. Thor could rightfully call a Thing and have Odin removed as King and the Council dismissed. Thor would be installed instead, as was his right. He'd already been confirmed as the next King. By law if Thor had insisted, he could have been installed as King anyway the day of the botched coronation.

Exiling Thor that day had been as much about making sure Thor couldn't do that, until Odin could be sure Thor didn't know he could, and protecting his people from a wasteful war. Asgard was not prepared for a prolonged war. Odin also was not prepared to hand over the Odinforce. Thor was not powerful enough to hold it or its enchantments, nor was he willing to trust Loki with any of the power long-term. Too many secrets and defenses were tied to the enchantments of the Seiðr of Asgard. Thor would unknowingly hold them in place. Loki would know what they were and might seek to unravel the spells, destroying Odin's legacy and possibly Asgard with it.

"My daughter is right Seidring," Odin spoke, sounding weary. Kara could tell by his heartrate that that was not the case. He was angry, but he wasn't stupid. "Though not with her tone," He gave her a cold glare that was meant to be disapproving, but Kara held his gaze with a look he'd seen all too often on Loki's face before he unleashed Hel on one of his victims. It made him pause.

Seidring was angrily sputtering, but the rest of the council had taken the hint and quickly gotten to their feet. One of the more senior members, Adreson, bowed quickly. "We meant no offense your highnesses, I must beg pardon for our misstep. We too wished to welcome Prince Loki home, and had not meant to intrude upon a family gathering." He was quite the polished politician. Seidring also managed to wipe his face of his disgust and rage. He quickly joined the others on their feet as they made themselves ready to leave.

"Please go, I will see you all after to discuss the protections on the Tesseract." Odin told them before he released the wards and allowed them to depart.

Kara braced herself. She knew Odin would not hold back now that there was no audience. "How dare you be so insulting after a year absence that hurt your mother." Odin roared at her almost the moment the doors closed and the wards reset.

Kara shrugged and didn't bother standing. "She knew I would return after the mourning period." Loki's quick glance at her knew she was going to have words with him about her mourning. He'd heard enough by now to know she had not followed the regular rites.

Odin paused. He had not asked why Frigga had asked him not to summon her before now. While death was celebrated in Asgard, he knew Kara had been too old, too entrenched in her own religion and customs to fully embrace Asgard's. He had assumed she had returned to Midgard to sulk after her blow-up with Thor.

"Is this true?" Odin asked his wife. Death rites were always celebrated, even if the enemy's customs were different, they were respected and carried out in their own traditional manner. Like Loki's respect of the dead bodies of the enemy whales, Odin was going to be careful now. Death was a powerful abstract entity, even more powerful than the Elders, or even the Celestials, for even they are within the cycle of life and death. No one tried to gain her attention by disrespecting her, and all manner of worship to her domain. It was one of the reasons why Death Rites were so honored within the Realms.

Frigga looked at Kara and then Odin. "Yes, most Kryptonian rites are performed within the first two weeks. That means no arms can be taken against either side during the fortnight of mourning. That is the public time of mourning. Afterwards, closer members of the deceased can have a mourning period of up to a full year." Loki's eyes were wide as he looked at Kara in surprise at the suggested length of her mourning period.

Odin clenched his teeth. "And how long was your period?" He asked Kara directly. His eyes were angry but the wraith he had been displaying before now was somewhat cooled.

She defiantly looked at him. "The maximum allowed without being true mates in the Eyes of Rao."

Loki actually gasped. Frigga had looked down in sadness. Thor looked a little lost, but he had learned a little of this from Heimdall. He had informed Thor that Kara's prolonged mourning suggested she had loved Loki much deeper than anyone had assumed. Only Fandral, on one of the few occasions when Thor and he had spoken had suggested there was this level of an attraction on Kara's side.

Odin closed his eye and his face drew blank. His plans to allow them to wed were going to come back in bit him in the ass he realized. Frigga had told him that she had encouraged Kara to consider Loki just prior to all the issues that had happened following the coronation and Loki's 'death'.

The silence was broken by Thor. "Is this not good news then?" He asked, acting more guileless than normal. "Kara and Loki as a couple would fix all your plans would it not?" Thor plowed on even as Odin's eye snapped open in horror. "They wed, Loki's name is restored, Kara and Loki return to Midgard, where they will be glad to see him. The council would not have to see him and they will be happy too." Thor popped a piece of meat in his mouth as if he had not surprised them all with his candor.

"Can we not act as if Kara and I are not in the room?" Loki snarled from his seat as he rose to glare at Thor. "The idea of a wedding between Kara and I was branded about _once_. It has never been discussed. It is not set in stone, nor have either of us ever been approached to consider such an arrangement."

"Nor has Laufey's son been through his trial as of yet." Odin told them sternly.

That got all four of them leveling death glares at the old man. Odin quickly realized he had overstepped. He had expected Thor to immediately back down and side with him. That is what Thor had been groomed to do all his life. Odin was King, his word was law, do not stand against him. Those were the words that had been repeatedly drummed into him as a boy. He too was gripping his hammer as he stared his father down.

"You dare deny my son?" The queen hissed at him. Odin knew he needed to back down on this. Frigga rarely lost her temper, but in this she was angrier than Kara who was surprisingly the second calmest of the bunch.

Loki looked passive. Only a flinch and a slow closing of his eyes showed how deeply those words had cut. The closing of the eyes was like a shutter of hope leaving him. When his eyes opened, Kara could see the death of his childhood dream, of making Odin proud of him.

Kara completely ignored Odin and jumped over the table in a power aided leap to grab Loki's shoulder. She kept his eyes on her. "Take us away." She whispered to him.

He did.


	12. Fallout

SoA – Part 3

Chapter 12 – Fallout

Loki teleported out of the room, taking only Kara with him. The wards shattered as he whisked them through. He brought them to a cave high above, and well outside of Asagarth. The palace was a small gleaming wedge in the distance, towering over the city.

Kara pushed herself closer into his arms. She held him as tightly as she had when she had first seen him in the clearing on Midgard, making it difficult for Loki to breathe. Loki robotically returned the embrace. He was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. He focused on the emotional pain that felt like it had ripped his heart out of his chest, taking his ability to breathe with it. Kara wished with all her might that she could heal Loki's wounds, but this time the wounds were not something that could be healed with a Soul Forge.

"He called me Laufey's son." The disbelieving sob fell from Loki's lips unbidden. Once the first escaped, many followed. Much like when Thor cried during his exile, Loki let out a scream of pain that shook the mountains. Avalanches began all around them. Kara carefully lifted Loki to a safe distance inside the cave as the snow crashed down in the front. Light disappeared and Kara held him closer to her. She was a good foot off the ground so she could keep his face tucked to her shoulder. She kissed his brow several times as he cried. It was the only thing she could do that could show him he was not alone and with someone who loved him.

At some point Loki could no longer stand. He slid down the rock wall of the cave. Kara took a moment to pile a small grouping of rocks and quickly superheated them. With the tiny bit of light the rocks gave off Kara slowly approached him and moved to sit beside him. He reached out and pulled her Kara into his lap sideways. She smoothed her hands along his hair and guided his head to rest his forehead against her shoulder. She could see the outline of Loki's body now in the low reddish light. He seemed to be more in control now and after a long while Kara moved out of his lap and lightly guided him into a more relaxed position on the ground, resting his head on her thigh facing the stones. The heat from the rocks had heated the entire cave and even the floor was no longer freezing.

They sat there for hours in silence, listening as some of the snow at the entrance dripped off the rocky edges to the floor from the heat inside. Kara would occasionally warm the rocks, but otherwise she spent the time carding her fingers through his hair. So many thoughts had gone through her mind. How much she hated Odin in that moment. How proud she had been of Thor for choosing them over his father. How they would proceed now that Odin was obviously against them. On that front she was at a loss. She had no idea what to do now. She only knew that she would not abandon Loki, mother or Thor. Whatever they decided she would stand by her family; not Asgard, not as long as Odin ruled.

"Why?" Loki's voice suddenly broke the stillness. It was very quiet and raspy from his crying. Kara had thought he was finally sleeping. His voice was curious which made her think he was not thinking of Odin. Most likely forcing himself not to think of the cruel man, instead he was thinking of something else.

"Why, what?" Kara asked, just as quietly.

"Why did you mourn me so long?" He asked her after a few moments of silence. His tone carried a vulnerability she had not heard from him before.

"Because to me, you are the most important person in my life," She whispered back as she gave his hair a tiny tug of affection as she slid them through his hair once more. "No one else holds a candle to you in my eyes. They never have. Mother is close, but you have always been the person I cared for most since I lost everyone I had loved on Krypton."

Loki's breath stuttered as he dragged it past his lips. "How can you love me so?"

Kara curled herself over his head and kissed his brow once more. "Because you have always been the one person I knew I could cling to in this life. Even mother falters, but you have never made me feel alone." Her voice quivered slightly as she confessed her feelings. "You have always strived to make me feel accepted and safe. Both were things I needed so desperately when I first came here. Even now I need it, and you always have been there, even when you were not." She raised her hand to where the pendent usually rested on her throat.

"I am so sorry Kara." He cried into her thigh as his tears returned. Remorse and self-loathing evident in not only his words and voice, but in how he clung to her legs. His hands trembled with it, just as much as his voice seemed to break and crackle with guilt.

Kara soothed him. "I forgive you." She whispered over and over as his new tears overtook him. She leaned back and thanked Rao that Asgardian men were not taught tears were a weakness and unmanly as humans seemed to be. She could feel it when Loki began to believe her. She did love him, and she did forgive him. Those words finally took hold and Loki fell into a deep sleep.

Her anger with him for letting go and falling into the Void was impossible to manifest right now. She'd been so angry at him at times over the past year. She had burned a whole new wing into rock and ice for the Fortress dealing with that anger, and she'd accidently learned she had limits. A few days without powers stuck in the Artic had made her aware of those limits very well. While she hadn't been able to freeze inside the Fortress she had felt the cold outside. She had actually felt completely human until she had managed to absorb enough sunlight. It had taken days because she had managed to burn her skin a little the first day by not considering that humans couldn't spend that much time in under a sun lamp without their skin burning.

She'd spend those eight days recovering and using her Kryptonian tech to cover the bare rock and ice with the crystal supports and 'sheet crystals'. The crystals helped to keep the humans from finding the Fortress as it interfered with their signals in an undetectable way. I mimicked solid rock so humans mistook the area for frozen tundra with geo-vents underneath. This far north in Norway all the area looked similar to their technology.

Kara took off her cape a laid it down beside him. She took his cloak off and rolled him gently onto hers, and then stretched out beside him, covering them both with his cloak. The Kryptonian fabric, despite being thinner actually reflected the warmth of their bodies towards them and the cold of the stone away better than the thicker fabric of Loki's ceremonial one that he'd been wearing. Loki's cloak was more of a thick velvety fabric, it made for an oddly shaped blanket that worked better at keeping the night chill off them. Their of them needed the warmth, but it made them more comfortable.

Without a pillow she carefully rolled him on his back and then curling herself into his side. His armor covered body was cool, but not uncomfortably so. With the depth of the darkness in the cave, Kara needed to use her x-ray vision to see if Loki was in a comfortable position. Once she was sure he wouldn't wake in pain, she allowed herself to use his arm as her own pillow and clutched it tightly to her. She finally allowed her own weariness to overcome her and slept better than she had in nearly a year despite the circumstances.

Kara was startled awake by a loud thud near the entrance to the cave. Loki's eyes also snapped open. His quick actions to get to his feet and produce daggers in each hand was hampered by Kara's body being draped over him, and his arm being more than a little unresponsive due to her weight on it most of the night. As second thud several seconds later had both scrambling to their feet. "That can only be Thor." Loki sighed as he shook his arm trying to regain feeling in it.

"No doubt." Kara sighed as she went to move towards the front of the cave.

Loki grabbed her and turned her back to face him. "I can't thank you enough for staying with me." He told her, his voice and touch were both tender and caring in the deep darkness of the snow covered cave. She wished she could see the expression on his face.

She placed her hand on his cheek. "I'll always be by your side Loki." She felt him smile under her hand before he took it and kissed her palm in gratitude.

The simple courtly kiss was electric. Pleasure shot from her palm to her heart, making it race just a little faster. She'd felt this reaction before, when she was thirteen. She'd had first had a crush on Loki back then. Her feelings had faded by the time she was fourteen into something a little more friendship deep. This past year had shaken something loose, and she had regretted ever allowing the feeling to fade into the background.

The moment was broken when the snow at the entrance lightened as the thick snow covering was nearly broken through. Kara turned reluctantly and shot her vision in a wide wall of defused heat at the snowy opening. Even in the low light she could see the snow as it melted away from the opening without shooting the beam past the snow and possibly hurting Thor outside.

Morning light poured into the cave nearly blinding both of them with the suddenness of it. Thor rushed in. "Are you both well?" He asked franticly. "Mother said you were safe, but when you didn't return I grew concerned. The rumbling on the mountain told me where you had likely gone, but I had expected you both to come back before this morning."

Kara smiled at him. "We were fine, Loki just needed some time, and we fell asleep afterwards."

Thor glanced at Loki, his red rimed eyes, not yet covered by glamor told him that Loki had been in need of privacy to come to terms with their father's cruel actions. He walked over to him and ignored Loki's warnings and one quick back step away from Thor He took his brother in a tight bear hug. "I do not care what that idiot of a king said last night, or you for that matter. YOU ARE MY BROTHER." His voice boomed, in the small cave the sound resonated and gave Kara an instant headache. He held Loki out at arms-length by his shoulders with both his hands clasping them tightly. "Any who dispute this will face me in the Holmgang." He finally let Loki go. For once he didn't pull away and yell at him for calling him brother.

Kara chuckled trying to keep the conversation from becoming too serious, "A battle to the death? That's a little extreme don't you think?" Holmgang was actually a very serious business. It was Asgard's equivalent to a formal 'pistol's at dawn'. Rather than private affairs however, Holmgang's were public spectacles. Matters of both personal and house honor were dealt with in these matches.

Thor shook his head, his braids swinging dramatically. "No, I do not." He answered angrily.

Kara's brows rose. Whatever was said after they had left, it had been life affirming for Thor. Kara shared a look of concern with Loki. He at least took the declaration well. In truth he had expected something a little less grave, but something profound and challenging to Asgard's acceptance of Loki. Now it was 'accept it or face Thor in a death-match'.

"Fine I will consider you my brother, if only to save myself from being killed, if for no other reason." Loki replied with a grimace. Thor had smiled, but it wasn't his beaming grin, it was one filled with anger, though it was obvious it was not directed at either of them.

"I was such a fool to not see how the others perceived you, my brother." Thor's fists tightened. "I had my eyes opened this past year, but until this past eve I had not known it was so open among the other nobles."

"What was said after we left?" Loki asked. His voice and facial expressions were deceptively calm. Kara could hear the pounding of his pulse and his heart slamming against his ribcage. Both told her he was anything but calm. She edged closer to his side and took his hand in hers.

Thor began to pace and storm clouds began to gather around the mountain as he told them of the events directly after they disappeared.

" _By_ The Norns _Odin! How dare you deny my son!" Frigga had roared once more at him. "I will not stand idly by this time while you try to blame Loki for the actions of others."_

 _Thor moved to stand with his mother and he too glared at Odin. "I have been learning a great many things lately Allfather. All of them tell me that you and your council are not to be trusted when it comes to my brother." He glared at the surprised and rapidly reddening faced king. "Have you ever loved him, or was he to be a sacrificial lamb for each of my mistakes that could not be swept away, such as my destruction of the Bifröst."_

 _Odin's temper flared and he banged his fist on the table. "You would not have destroyed the Bifröst if he had not locked it into the open position."_

" _And he would not have been forced to prepare for war in such a manner if your council hadn't abandoned him." Frigga yelled back, startling both men. She got right in Odin's face and her long pointed fingernail inches from his remaining eye. "_ The Norns _are not forgiving Allfather." She voice hissed as if another was speaking through her. "Do not anger us." The voice hissed once more. "We saved the boy once again. Anger us and we will not be forgiving of you."_

 _Frigga's eyes lessened the degree of rage, but there was still plenty in her. "Nor will I be if you continue on this path Allfather." She had answered in her own voice._

 _Odin looked as if he wished to continue to argue but the voice of_ The Norns _had quelled his desire to see Loki cowed before him. "What of his crimes? Are they to be ignored?" His ire once more lit, but not to the level it had been. "He killed Thor." Odin reminded her._

" _It was not his intent." Thor spoke up. Both turned and looked at him, having forgotten he was even present in their focus on each other. "His intent had been to knock me out of the way." Thor went on to explain. "Sif and the others attacked from behind me. The Destroyer back handed me to move me out of the line of attack." Thor held tight to his emotions as he continued, "If any are to be held accountable for my death it should be warriors Sif, Hogun and Fandral. Their intent on attacking their princess and resisting rightful arrest placed my life in danger." Though he tried not to, his face still winced at the words he spoke. He felt as if he was betraying them, and yet truthfully that was what happened. He had seen the actions through Heimdall's report. The backhand was not followed through as it would have been if it was meant to be a true hit. Even then, had Thor not been mortal, it would have been a non-fatal blow. It was only because he had been a human that the hit had been so bad._

 _Odin knew all this. Not only had Heimdall told him that Loki had reacted badly to Thor's death, he'd been distracted just at that moment by the wards on Odin's outer chambers when Laufey had started his attack. He also knew that Sif and Hogun had pushed to attack Kara. Fandral had argued before they left to not provoke her. Volstagg had been under the impression that a little talking and eating would solve the issue when they had gone down to Midgard. He'd believed that a simple conversation to get both Thor and Kara to come back and confront Loki on what was going on was all that would be needed._

" _And his attack on Midgard?" Odin asked. "I'm I to excuse his attack there also? Midgard is the protectorate of Asgard. I cannot just pretend this has not happened." Odin glared at his son. It angered him that Thor was still looking at him with determination._

" _Loki was under a powerful spell that forced him to attack Midgard." Thor informed his father. "Under the Soul Forge the magic was located and healed after the spell was broken by Kara."_

 _Odin looked skeptical. "Kara broke a spell that was powerful enough to ensnarl Loki? Do not be ridiculous Thor."_

 _Frigga growled as she turned to Thor. "Do you have the results?" She asked him softly, her manner reassuring him that she was not going to back down and make excuses for Odin this time._

" _Aye, we brought them with us." Thor nodded before pulling them out of his pouch on his belt. "Kara's Soul Forge also found something else interesting." He told her. In fact they all had copies of the report on each of them in case they had become separated or one copy suddenly 'went missing'._

 _Frigga raised a brow and waited for Thor to continue. "Loki was tortured." Both Odin and Frigga looked surprised and even Odin's face crumpled at the thought of his child, even one he had been prepared to disown, had faced such pain. "It took the Soul Forge over ten minutes to catalogue the injuries from the last year, and it was unsure if it got them all."_

 _Frigga's eyes narrowed. "That would imply more than just torture."_

 _Thor looked down at his feet. "As the computer said, it was easier to list what was not broken or ruptured countlessly."_

 _Even Odin was surprised by this news, the readout was clear. He had been abused to such a degree, even under Asgardian law, if Loki had not been bewitched, which the scans did show, he could not be held accountable for his actions._

 _The report was more through than a usual report. He looked at the report closer and realized it was a scan done without any prior input. These types of scans usually added DNA scanning and paternity, and maternity identification if possible. Loki had never had one done on Asgard by his command because he had not wanted anyone to know he was Laufey's son. Loki's parental information had been entered as Odin and Frigga manually to the database so no one would know the truth, including Loki._

 _Loki of Asgard, Half-Asgardian... Odin stopped and re-read that line in surprise. He'd always assumed Loki was Laufey and Queen Fárbauti's child, making him a full frost giant. If he was half-Asgardian it helped to explain a great many things about Loki._

 _He carefully began to read the scan once more. Half-Asgardian and half- Jötunn male, it identified him as. Odin looked at the linage; father, King Laufey of Jötunheim, mother, Valkyrie Hede. Odin's one eye popped as he took in the words. As far as Odin knew the old Witch Hede had died soon after she had voluntarily retired from Asgard. If instead she had become Laufey's prisoner, it would help explain why Laufey had been so successful against the Asgardian army in the beginning of the war._ Hede would have known a great deal about Asgard's forces, and its weaknesses _, Odin thought._

 _It also explained why despite being a Jötunn Loki was so skilled with all seiðr, especially_ fire _. He'd never heard of a Jötunn able to wield fire in any capacity. Loki wielded it better than any other master of the art. In fact Loki had more difficulty with ice magic than he did fire. It also explained why Loki held the Asgardian form even without Odin's aid as an infant. It was one of his two natural forms. It could be argued at this point that it was his true form since he had spent most of his life in it._

 _Waving his hand he removed the linage portion from the report. It would not do for anyone to know about Hede. No one remembered her, and that was the way it needed to stay. If someone remembered her it would pick at the spells that held the past securely where it belonged._

 _Looking at the rest of the report was no less shocking for the old King. He tried to imagine enduring such tortures and not succumbing to any form of mind-control afterwards. He knew that even he could not stand in the face of such pain over a prolonged period._

 _Finally Odin raised his eye to his queen who stood defiant. He sank slowly into his chair. "There will be a trial, but regardless of which, the outcome is decided. Loki will be set free and declared innocent." He whispered authoritatively, the words heavy and mournful._

 _Frigga's eyes flashed with power. "We will hold you to this."_

 _Thor looked confused but had followed his mother out of the room. She later explained that the trial was to clear Loki, not to humiliate him, or save face for Asgard. Without it everyone would wonder why he was let go without a word. This way the world would see that Loki was innocent of all charges._

 _The two had waited in Frigga's rooms, waiting for either Kara or Loki to return. They had heard the rumors of the huge, out-of-season avalanche in the mountains not far from the city. They'd guessed it was Loki and Kara letting out their rage (Thor and Frigga both knew it would be Loki who had been that angry. Kara in a rage would have brought down the mountain itself and not just the snow on it), and so they waited a little longer. When it was obvious they would not return that evening, Frigga scryed for them. Their location in the nearby mountains also showed they were warm and safe. Frigga convinced Thor to wait for morning light before she would give him a stone to guide him to them._

In his office, as Loki cried in Kara's lap in the mountain cave, Odin cried silent tears alone. Pride was such a terrible weapon. This time he'd wielded it against himself. If it had it been Thor to whom he'd said those words that had chased Loki from his presence, he could hope for reconciliation. With Loki, he knew no such thing could be easily won, if it ever could be again. It would take great effort on his part, and he was too old and set in his ways to change possibly enough to regain a fraction of his son's affection. He didn't have the energy to fight for his wayward adopted boy's affections. He doubted he ever had Kara's, nor did he truly wish for it. If she had not become so powerful and immortal, he would have gladly forgotten her on Midgard.

He'd been intent on lashing out at Loki for killing Thor. It was an anger he had allowed to overshadow his guilt, grief, and remorse at the loss of Loki to the Void. He had not considered all the facts, or even considered that their might be a reasonable explanation for his actions. Now as he looked back on the past year, he knew that his unforgivable actions against Loki went further back that just today. He sat and mourned the death of his relationship with his intelligent son, the only member of his family as unforgiving as himself. Despite not being of his body, Loki greatly reminded Odin of himself, more than Thor often did. It was one reason Odin was so harsh with Loki. He knew how much of a manipulative bastard he could be. It was not a stretch to see these same skills and motives attached to Loki. He feared Loki would use them against Thor as he had once used them against his own brothers to become King of Asgard. His brothers now sat in other Realms, only to return to Asgard by invitation. Odin rarely allowed them to return.

Heimdall had told him he was wrong after Loki's fall. He'd seen and heard Loki's last words to Kara as he was pulled into the black hole. Odin in his pride and anger had dismissed his words. Now in the dark and alone he reevaluated his conclusions, his pride demanding he stand firm, while his cold heart wished for a better outcome. He had such a small amount of time left, and so much to see righted before that happened. He didn't have time to chase after Loki's affections or forgiveness.

"Thank you for telling us this Thor," Kara said thoughtfully. Mother and Thor standing up to Odin, and forcing him to back down twice in one night, it was astounding. Odin was so used to having 'yes men' around him; the idea that others might oppose him must have been a tremendous reminder that he was not infallible.

Just before they left Loki placed a glowing hand in his pocket and pulled out her pendant. He handed it back to her, placing it in her open palm and closing her fingers intimately over the glowing stone and holding her hand a moment longer than necessary. "You should have this back."

"Thank you, I don't feel whole without it." She admitted tenderly. She turned and pulled her hair up after she placed it back in his hand. Loki wrapped the leather cord around her neck, tying the ends with a spell so only he or Kara could remove it.

Loki smiled contently as he saw the stone resting under her throat. "I'm happy you like it so much." He could feel his seiðr in the stone reach out and bond with her once more. Unlike the first time there was a touch of possessiveness in how his magic reacted to Kara this time. The pendant was slightly sentient, as it was literally a piece of him. It made finding her location quite easy now that he also had bonded with the stone again. The piece of him wrapped around her throat however, had claimed her in a way his seiðr had never done before. It was heartening to know it could be that content in her possession.

He often found she was the easiest person he could talk to now that she was 'of the same age' as him. He of course knew much more than her, as he had years of study completed that she had not even scratched the surface of. But for her years she was very intelligent and as long as he gave her background knowledge when speaking of new topics she quite often kept up with him, though she didn't always agree with him. He found it refreshing in a female companion, and he had often wished her to be older so they would be more than what they were, but only in recent years.

Really it had been since that first conversation suggesting Kara as a wife. Before that he'd seen her as a young girl. After that the fact she was almost fully grown had been almost forcefully brought to his attention. Every interaction after that day had shown him some new way Kara had matured. Her armor was no longer flat chested and boy-like in its design had been a truly eye-opening experience. As was the first time he'd seen her in the tighter work-out leathers she wore when practicing her weapons skills in their mother's training room. Kara's ban from the Training Field was actually a good thing once her body had filled out. He could easily imagine the accidents that would have occurred had she ever gone through her exercises in dagger or sword forms while wearing those clothes. She was easily twice the size of Sif, who was oddly proud of how small her chest was, claiming it made it easier to fight.

Worse still he'd had moments of just being content in her presence, but also moments of shameful arousal. As a child Kara had been physically affectionate, much like Thor. As she grew older she shied away from other males, but still kept Loki close physically. She had admitted that once she fully understood some of Fandral's stories and the lack of respect the men had for woman they considered 'loose' she had wanted less to do with them. Kara in a temper had become almost intoxicating to him, though he hid it well from others.

The first time he'd seen her tear into the Warriors Three and Sif after that enlightening day in the council chambers he'd been distracted by her flushed face and the amount of energy she seemed to put out when angry. He'd nearly been too late to intercede. He'd had much the same reaction onboard the Helicarrier. Even under the control of 'The Leader', he'd felt the surge of arousal when she had sworn at him. Normally when people used such simple, vulgar language, Loki was unmoved. He actually found it childish and unimaginative. It was why his insults tended to be more creative.

Looking at the pendant at her throat he smiled. He felt a possessive sense of pride seeing it being worn so high on her throat. The pendent had been hidden on Midgard and she often wore it much lower when there, it was more fashionable.

The three returned via Loki's teleportation spell, directly into Loki's sitting room. The room was dusty, as if no one had entered the room since 'his death'. Kara sneezed at the unexpected neglected room. Even the air was stagnant.

"No one was able to enter once you disappeared, brother." Thor explained as he too looked around the room. Papers and books lay exactly as Loki had left them.

Loki took a quick look around. With a wave he smiled as his diagnostic spell told him his wards had held. "The wards would have stood for several years, even if I had died." He told him smugly. He'd been proud of the work he put into them.

Thor nodded slowly. "Mother said as much last year when someone had suggested you were hiding to avoid punishment."

Kara laughed at the absurdity of the idea. "Which one of your idiot friends suggested that?"

Thor looked concerned as he shook his head a little. "None, by then they had been punished and were forbidden to express opinions on Loki, or even speak of him. It was Councilman Seidring who made the suggestion."

Kara looked sharply at Loki. "He's been the one pushing for charges against Loki now as well, is he not?"

Loki rolled his eyes at her unasked question. "I made him look like a fool in front of Vanir King once when I was little more than a child, mostly by understanding our treaties better than him. He has never forgotten it."

Thor laughed loudly. "You made him look like he was the child while you the statesman." Kara raised a brow at Thor to get him to continue. "Loki proceeded to school him on the treaty right there in front of the Vanir King, pointed out that the treaty was outdated in places, and which parts needed to be renegotiated… something about fruit?" Thor turned to Loki for clarification.

Loki rolled his eyes. With a wave of his hand, the rooms brighten by a glow green and gold magic before the dust cleared and the three could sit down on clean furniture. "The Vanir used to grow a type of citrus fruit that is similar to a cross of an orange and lemon, a crinomin. The import tax on the fruit was to offset the reduced sales of other less profitable items that we needed that could not be grown here, but were needed to be subsidized due to the profitability of the fruit. Other items Asgard needed were taxed under the same treaty, but Asgard soil was finally able to supply these other crops for various reasons, including climate. Growing conditions were just better on Vanir and cheaper." Loki explained. "Vanir no longer grew the crinomin for Asgard, as the fruit was by then being grown on Asgard, and the less profitable crops that were being protected by the tax were still being grown in sufficient numbers due to increased growing technics. Seidring had suggested that there was no need to renegotiate the treaty even though Asgard now needed to import other crops we could not grow due to a lack of fields at the time."

"And you were a not as skilled with your tongue back then." Thor smiled proudly at his brother.

Kara blushed a little at the unintended innuendo, Loki just nodded with a smirk. "I was only six hundred or so."

Kara did the math quickly. Loki had been equal to a ten year old, in human years. She smirked and tried to stifle a giggle. She could easily imagine a ten year old Loki lecturing the stern, overly proud man on the ins and outs of the treaty in front of an equally amused King of Vanir. She had met the man once and he had been very friendly and welcoming to his 'fosterling great-niece'.

"He should have forgiven you by now, that was so long ago and you were just a child." Kara scoffed.

"Some hold grudges for less." Loki reminded her with a chuckle, as he was one who had held such grudges on occasion.

Noise down the hall attracted Kara's attention. When she turned and stared at the wall hard both brothers froze. Looking through the walls Kara could see a contingent of Einherjar approaching the door of Loki's chambers. "The guards are coming." She whispered to them.

It took concentration to see through the walls but not the bodies on the other side. She could see the faces of the guard and knew them not to be friendly to Loki. The fact that Sif was among them was a dead giveaway to who had ordered them to bring Loki in. The chains in hand also were a clue.

"Not on our side." She warned. "I don't know the captain leading them."

"There must have been an alarm ward if anyone entered the room." Loki muttered as he pulled his daggers from his storage. Thor lifted Mjölnir, spinning it in hand to ready himself to fight.

Kara shook her head and motioned both of them back. "They are coming here. Let's just move to my or Mother's rooms. They wouldn't dare try this in her wing."

Kara's rooms were directly below Loki's and just down a hallway from her Mother's receiving rooms. If her mother was angry enough at Odin she might even actually have used the rooms the evening before. Kara had only used them for dressing for feasts and special affairs in all the time she had lived in the palace, but there was a full bedroom. Kara had often taken naps there when she had been recovering from stasis sickness in her first few months on Asgard.

"I suggest yours." Loki replied thoughtfully. "You'll be able to see and hear what their response will be to us being gone and not answering."

With that quiet agreement Loki shifted the three of them through the stone and they landed in Kara's rooms. Even in the early morning light, Kara's rooms had a warm fire and a breakfast tray sitting on her sideboard. All of that was ignored as they waited for Kara to tell them what was happening above.

"They have knocked on the door." Kara reported as she watched carefully. She could see that four of the guards, Sif included seemed eager to arrest Loki, the other six were not so enthusiastic. They held back and clutched their spears and swords as if expecting a fight. It was several long minutes as they continued to bash at the door before one of the guards suggested Loki was not actually inside to the captain.

The captain had snarled but agreed, ordered four men on the door, and left the chains. "They were given orders that if anyone comes out they are to be chained and brought before the Allfather for trial."

"Is Sif among them still?" Thor asked with a frosty growl.

Kara raised a brow to Thor's use of just her name and not her honorific. Sif was technically a noble, a minor one, but still nobility. Not using Lady meant he too had banished her from his presence until she was granted forgiveness.

"No," Kara nearly forgot to answer him. "She left with the unknown Captain." She admitted.

"It was likely Hildric, Seidring's nephew." Loki told them quietly.

"Family affair then," Thor snorted and placed Mjölnir down by the couch as he sat heavily.

Thor then took a moment to look around. Like Loki's rooms, Kara's had many books and scrolls in orderly bookcases. The colors in her room ran more toward a cobalt blue and metallic gold. The rich deep colors didn't make the room dark, but cool and calming, thanks to the deep red accent rugs. The blue drapes were wide open allowing the morning light to flood the room the room had a balance of warmth to it as well. The bookcases and tables were lighter hardwoods, to contrast the darker colors.

The sitting room they were gathered in had the two couches in front of the fireplace, each couch had two tea side tables, and a sideboard for serving a buffet style meal or tea service was against the wall nearest the door.

Behind the receiving area were the doors that led to Kara's personal rooms. Kara suddenly remembered that Thor had never actually seen her rooms before. To be fair she had never seen his either. She had to shake her head to clear the thoughts of the old Thor.

This new Thor that had come to Midgard to retrieve both Loki and her was almost like a completely different person compared to the one she had seen last year. His banishment had affected him greatly, she knew. No one changed without a huge shift in their world view, and being placed on Midgard as a mortal had shaken Thor, but not really enough to have brought this much change. She was wary of it, but at the same time, Thor had done things that she never would have thought possible in the past few days.

He had stood up to Odin for one. Never in her recollection of memories of his actions, or stories told, had Thor ever stood up to Odin to protect anyone else. Sure he had stood up to Odin when he didn't agree with him, but it was rarely public.

More than even that great feat, he'd put Loki's well-being and reputation first. Ahead of his own glory, he'd stepped back and let Loki and Kara shine brighter than himself. Loki now overshadowed him in the Midgardian news, and not once had he protested it, because Loki needed the exposure in a way he had not.

Despite wanting to hold a grudge against him, she found she couldn't. With that act alone he had gained a measure of her respect. She had such hope for him and Loki. They both needed one another in a way neither fully understood. They were such polar opposites, and yet they had always loved the same things; family, duty and honor. Their conflicts came in how to best protect those things they cared for. Even then, they had always been on the same side until the coronation.

Kara was going to fight hard to keep Loki from slipping into blaming Thor for Odin's mistakes. Thor did have things he needed to atone for, but Kara wasn't going to let Loki blame Thor for things out of his control. Odin's favoritism of Thor was not Thor's fault. Same as Mother's favor always fell on Loki, at least until Kara had arrived. Frigga had not had as much time for Loki in those early days, and only had more time for him once he had joined in teaching Kara her lessons.

No one approached Kara's door that morning and about an hour later Thor left for his own room to prepare for the trial that was scheduled to begin that afternoon. Kara had sent word that she would require enough food for herself and Thor to be sent to her rooms. Once the order had made the rounds in the staff the guards on Loki's door sulked away peacefully, as they rightly guessed that Thor and Kara were guarding Loki until then.

The trial itself was anti-climactic and quite private. Only highest ranking military warriors, and nobles were present. The lower ranked councilmen were not in attendance. Seidring was there, but he kept his disapproving mouth out of the discussion. Kara wondered if Odin had personally ordered him to be silent.

The highest ranking Healer was brought in and examined the Soul Forge readings. Even the great Tyr had flinched at the description of the torture Loki had been subjected to. Even more telling was the looks of shock and respect shot at Loki when the result read that the Soul Forge was unable to determine the amount of times the injuries had been healed. Even more telling was the physical damage done by the mind controlling magic, and the trace remains that were there even once the spell had been broken. The Healer Eir had insisted that no one, not even Odin himself would have been able to withstand that level of spell along with the torture.

Kara quickly testified that by Midgardian law, a person not in control of their own actions could not be held accountable for crimes committed during that time. Therefore there were no charges against Loki outstanding on Midgard. That also helped his case. She also testified that Clint Barton, who also had been mind-controlled, was also not being held accountable by the Midgardians as proof of her claim that her interpretation of Midgard Law was accurate. Those facts helped ease the minds of some of the others in the court. It surprised Kara because none of them really held Midgard in high esteem.

Odin held true to his word and quickly dismissed any charges or concerns over the matter. Seidring tried to object and bring up charges from before Loki's fall, including the destruction of the Bifröst, but Odin shut that down quickly.

"Loki Odinson was acting as rightful Regent at the time of those actions." Odin proclaimed loudly. This voice filled the entire grand hall, making the councilman rock back on his heels in surprise. After a year, he'd thought Odin was ready to finally throw Loki from his family. Kara was too surprised by the admission and order. Loki too was stunned to hear Odin publicly claim him, but it was too soon after the words of the previous evening for him to process it quickly. Thor had expected it and just didn't think too much of it.

Odin narrowed his eye at the man. "Any who slanders him for those actions will soon see the wraith of my anger. I will see it as a slander against myself as King, as he was acting on my behalf. His words and actions were done as if they were mine."

No one dared say anything after that. Even Seidring was careful to not even look at Loki. Frigga was standing in the shadows by the family doorway of the hall. She gave Odin a small nod of approval before she left unseen by anyone else. Odin waited until he was alone to sink further into his seat.

Once the hall was empty Frigga entered and walked to him. "Are you alright my husband?" She asked with some concern.

"I am so tired Frigga." He admitted sinking further into the seat of his throne. "They did not even look pleased by the decree I made."

Frigga rolled her eyes while Odin closed his in sadness. "It is too soon to expect otherwise. You have not even had a chance to offer apologies for your words last evening." She told him sternly.

Odin glared at her a moment before he looked fierce. "Are they satisfied?" He asked regarding _The Norns_.

Frigga looked with her sight. "They seem content for now." She told him. In truth she never saw them unless they were displeased as they had been last night. It greatly concerned her that they had interfered with Loki's life as they had Kara's. Odin too had been disturbed by the revelation that they had helped save Loki. It suggested he was needed to help Kara stop Ragnarök. Which meant the time was coming, sooner than he'd like.

"Kara will not wish to stay here long." Frigga sighed sadly. "Midgard is quickly becoming her true home."

Odin's mouth pinched as he scowled. "I hate how her actions hurt you."

Frigga glared back at him. "Then you shouldn't have forced her to leave before she saw Asgard as a home," Bringing up the reason behind their arguments of the past few years.

Odin growled in frustration. "I am aware I made a mistake, but her aging would not have slowed until she lived there. We had no way of knowing she would be immortal." He reminded her with more heat in his voice than he intended.

Frigga just nodded, allowing the argument to die down. They had gone over this fight several times. She knew his side as well as he knew hers. "You made a first step towards reconciling with Loki. The next move has to be his."

Odin gave her a slow nod before he raised himself from his throne and escorted her from the hall. "I pray he will forgive, for I am uncertain how long I will have left." Frigga cast a concerned look at her aging husband. As much as she wished it wasn't so, she knew Odin was in his twilight years, speeding towards his eternal night, and feasting in Valhalla once that darkness fell over him.


	13. Reparations

SOA Part 3

Chapter 13 – Reparations

Kara, Thor and Loki were actually toasting his freedom in Thor's room. Unlike the other two, Thor's sitting room was setup more like a mini feast hall with a long table that had been prepared with food and horns for drinking the ales in the serving jugs. Loki was seated between the two and they were gratefully eating their fill.

Kara was glad to see Thor and Loki acting more like they were close brothers or friends than they had in the past. Without the others to try and needle Loki, or encourage Thor to boasting, they managed to talk civilly, and even jest carefully with one another.

Kara waited until it was near the end of the dayshift before she excused herself quietly. The boys allowed her to leave without complaint and she flew as fast as she could to the vault corridor. She stopped before going around the corner to observe the man she wished to see.

Volstagg was standing at attention by the main door. His once extremely portly frame was noticeably smaller. The loss of weight meant he'd likely be a better warrior now, but on the once joyous man it seemed wrong. His face was lined with stress and age, something Kara had never seen on his almost always smiling face. Gone was the joy in his eyes, and the pride he once held.

Kara took a deep fortifying breath before she let her feet touch the ground and she slid around the corner. Both Volstagg and the other guard turned to see who had come down the forbidden corridor. Once they saw it was Kara both saluted her sharply before returning to their guard positions.

She looked at the other guard. "Please take a break."

The guard looked quickly at Volstagg and Kara before he made a hasty retreat, likely to report to his commander that the Princess was with Volstagg. He never flinched, but his eyes watched her carefully. "Princess," he greeted her respectfully.

Kara looked sheepishly at him. "I am sorry I allowed this punishment to go on so long Volstagg. I truly did not know of it until recent events."

"It has been a harsh but needed lesson for all involved Princess." The warrior looked away, he was too ashamed to look in her eyes. "We had become arrogant, and prideful. We thought too highly of ourselves and forgot that we served at the pleasure of the whole royal family, not just our friend."

Kara placed her hand on his cheek, tilting his face up to look in his eyes. "You are forgiven your trespass Warrior Volstagg. I accept your remorse as true, and unburden you from your dishonor against myself." Volstagg looked deeply humbled and his eyes filled with unshed tears. "I am further allowed to instruct that you are forgiven you trespass against the Regent King of Asgard, Prince Loki. Your actions in protecting his brother 'Exiled Prince Thor' was deemed with honor. He also accepts your remorse as true and instructed me to inform you that your dishonor against Asgard is forgiven, but not forgotten." She added the warning with a look of tired remorse.

It was a huge concession by Loki on his behalf to forgive the trespass, and not name it treason. Volstagg would be placed on a form of probation. As long as he never committed an offence against the royal family again, he'd be considered a Warrior of Asgard once more. He would be more harshly punished than any other if he broke any law ever again. The only reason Loki was really willing to do this on his behalf was because Thor had argued so well in his defense.

Volstagg looked wreaked. His tears were running down into his bushy red and grey beard. His nose too was running as his emotions overwhelmed him. "Thank you my princess. Thank you." Volstagg had no doubt that she had intervened on his behalf. Though Volstagg had considered Loki a friend, he was not stupid. Loki didn't forgive, not without reason.

"Thank Thor too." She told the older man. "He actually gave a better defense of your actions than even Loki could argue against."

Volstagg barked a surprised laugh. "Thor convinced Loki? Never," The man insisted still chuckling as he wiped his tears away. "He must not have tried if Thor spoke him around." He sniffled and wiped his face with napkin he had in his belt. "He hasn't lost an argument in centuries unless, he wished too." He defended Loki's skills with bright eyes.

Kara couldn't help but smile at his assessment. He looked more like Volstagg again, eyes cheerful and smiling. Some of the stress lifted, but his reduced bulk still concerned her. "Are you well Volstagg?"

The man's eyes dimmed a little at her questioning. "I have had much time to consider my actions. I am not proud of the man I became." He admitted slowly, his face was flushed with shame as he looked down again.

She poked him playfully in the stomach. "This is grief?"

Instead of playing along the man shied away from the playful poke. "What right did I have to be happy when my actions brought about the death of both my Princes?" He asked honestly, "Both of whom I considered friends."

Kara sucked in a breath quickly, making a small whistling noise. She felt like she had been sucker punched by his question. She had no idea he'd felt such guilt. "That was not your doing, Volstagg."

He stared straight into her eyes. "Aye it was. I agreed to commit treason, even if I didn't see it that way at the time. I should have died for it." He insisted despondently. "The fact that we did not was in its own way crueler… at least for me." He whispered the last bit. "Living with the knowledge that I was so easily led, and I directly contributed to the death of my friend? If not for my family I would have wished from death instead of the pain I knew I was causing those who loved him, and I did love him too. I mourned my friend Loki, but I will never forgive myself for my betrayal."

"Loki is alive. Surely that is joyful news, and that he forgives you." Kara tried to impress upon the man. "You are forgiven for your actions." She pleaded with him to understand. She knew he had no ill intent in coming to Midgard that day. He'd only wanted Thor to return to stop the Frost Giants. He'd never intended things to get so out of hand.

Volstagg's head snapped up. "That is more joyous then you can imagine…" He paused. "Well I am sure you can understand as I know you care for him… I loved him too." He admitted again. "Prickly as he can be, I loved my friend, but my doubts… I thought they had killed him."

Kara nodded, her own eyes filled with tears for his relief and his past grief. She hugged him tightly as she cried teas of relief. "You and your family will always be welcome in my home." She offered softly as she pulled back.

Volstagg choked on his tears and offered her a huge teary smile. "And you will always be welcome at ours." He told her. They stared at each other a few seconds more before Kara walked away. As she turned the corner she saw Volstagg's commander standing there.

"He is forgiven?" The man asked quietly.

Kara nodded, "By both Prince Loki and I." She whispered back. "There is no stain on his honor any longer."

The man gave her a salute and walked towards Volstagg. By tomorrow he'd no longer be on guard duty in the bowels of the castle. That made Kara smile.

The three Royals were a sight around Asgard for the next several days. They went riding, shopping, overseeing the public works, every duty a prince or princess could be asked to do they did, together. At times it was difficult. Loki was used to public works, knew what to expect on the state and paper side of things. He was not used to the public adoration that came with being with Thor while visiting among the masses. Kara who had never really done either was constantly being approached by the children who were curious about her, and the young nobles who were looking to curie favor with her as a way of getting closer to the throne or either Prince. Thor was often lost when the tradesmen and nobles wished to talk details of trade deals or laws. Together they helped each other deal with the problems the others faced.

Thor enjoyed teasing her about the young nobles who seemed to try and gain her attention during the nightly public dinners in the palace. Loki was not as pleased as he pretended to be. Never before had the young men looked at her as if she was on the marriage market. It made him uneasy. He made sure to stay as close to her as possible during these times. He managed quite often to scare the impressionable, and easily intimidated ones away with a frosty glare, or a dismissive smirk.

Frigga who had been watching her children from a distance couldn't have been happier. Volstagg had been moved back into the Warrior ranks, and while not as high as he had been, the men had welcomed him back. It had been good to see him smile as he began teaching the new recruits on the training field as she had walked past by the day before. It wasn't the carefree grin of the past, but a tempered one. He was a good choice to teach the young recruits. Stern but fair, and approachable if the boys needed extra help or training.

She looked thrilled when once more Loki had scared off a young noble with a simple waved of his hand. The dismissive way he'd cut the young buck off had amused her.

Odin had watched with concern. "Has Kara shown any preference for any of the nobleman who have spoken to her these past evenings?" Odin had encouraged his nobles to have their sons get to know Kara.

Frigga smiled with a highly amused, and badly hidden grin. "Only one," she told him smugly.

Odin sighed and looked down with a scowl. "I cannot allow it Frigga."

Frigga narrowed her eyes at him and he once more took notice of the otherworldly coldness that flashed. "Who are you to deny her?" The voice of his wife was colder than he was used to, but it didn't have the double edge of sight attached. Still he was cautious; she still had not forgiven him his words against Loki.

"I am her king." Odin insisted sternly, even though he knew he would not win the argument with her.

Frigga chuckled darkly. "You might believe that, but we both know she will defy you if you try to force her to accept someone who she does not want. You are also not her King, unless you wish to actually accept her." Frigga added quietly. They had had this debate many times before too. For some reason Frigga was not privy to Odin refused to consider Kara as a true Asgardian daughter. The very mention of it usually shut down all conversation about Kara, and the life choices Frigga made regarding her foster daughter.

"And she wants Loki?" Odin snapped, but he kept his voice quiet so as to not be overheard. Frigga gave him a warning look that he ignored. She had not expected him to continue with this line of thinking after their conversation the other evening. "They would unite against Thor."

Frigga glared at him coldly and nearly growled in anger, surprising Odin greatly. "Once that might have been true," She admitted with a hint of steel in her reply. "Now the three of them are a united force against everyone else." There was a warning in there for the Old King. The words ' _against you most of all_ ', were heard but left unspoken.

Odin didn't back down. "They would plot against him." He insisted a little louder, but still the conversation stayed private, only because Frigga placed a privacy ward over them that kept their voices at a whisper to the other guests regardless of the volume they actually used.

"Only if they are backed into a corner by you," Frigga warned him, her voice rising to normal level. Odin finally truly took note of what Frigga was saying, and looked at her instead of continuing to stare at Kara and Loki as they danced.

"If you plot against them, I will call for a Thing myself and have you replaced with Thor." Odin's eye widened at her threat. He knew if he pushed her too far she would stand against him. He'd had issues such as this before, usually they came to an agreement before their differences of opinion came to be public. "Do not make me chose between any of my children, and you Odin." She paused as she looked longingly at the couple before she turned back to him with real fire in her eyes. "Too often I defended you as you wronged them, never again!" She snapped defiantly at him.

Odin stared at her in anger before he got up suddenly and stormed from the hall. Instant silence followed his abrupt departure and the Queen turned and glared at the hall before she too swept from it.

"What was that about?" Thor asked Kara as soon as he could get to her.

Kara had overheard the conversation even with the privacy ward in place as it was only meant to keep the conversation at a whisper. As soon as Odin has asked if she preferred anyone her interest had been caught and she'd purposefully listened. She blushed and looked at her feet as Loki placed his arm around her bringing her closer to them both so their own whispers would not be overheard.

"Odin has been trying to get the noble boys to gain my attention, hoping I'd make a match." Kara explained while becoming flushed at Loki's arm around her. She was glad they would think that her blush was from the subject instead. She still wasn't sure if Loki would ever see her as more than a child. All talk of marriage aside, he'd never indicated he saw her as an attractive female woman. While he rarely called her anything but _My Kara_ , he didn't use or act like a man who found her attractive. To him she was just a girl, related to him after a fashion, one he'd helped to raise.

Thor looked around at the young men in the room and contemptuously waved the notion away. "There are not many of worth here, at least not for you." Thor dismissed the idea as preposterous. Most of the noble sons here were untired youths, still unbloodied. Kara at least had earned her armor. One of the biggest braggarts, a minor councilman's son, hadn't even been in a battle of wits with a rebel farmer.

"That is pretty much what mother said." Kara lied as she continued to look down at her feet. Loki pulled her closer and pressed a comforting kiss to her temple. Kara wrote the gesture off as familiar comfort. Tony often did that type of thing when she had been upset this past year too, and she knew he had no interest in her, thankfully.

Loki's eyes narrowed at some of the gathered noble sons. "That wouldn't have been enough to get the Allfather to storm out of his hall." He knew she was lying by omission. He was actually proud of her because that little omission hadn't been picked up by his aspect. That type of lie never was.

Kara swallowed harshly. "Mother told him there was only one here I would consider of all the nobles here, and Odin was not happy with that choice."

Thor looked from Loki to Kara and his confusion showed. "Mother has seen something? Or have you told her you would consider someone?" Kara wanted to face palm at Thor's blunt question. She had been trying to skirt the issue of her renewed feelings for Loki, feelings that had not declined in the past year even when she believed he was dead.

Kara bit her lip and made a successful effort to not look at Loki. "Mother has seen I might get along with only one suitor that would greatly benefit Asgard, but the choice is still mine. It was, as always, more the people around us that she saw, and not me directly as she can't see our futures clearly."

Thor nodded as he remembered the flaw in Frigga's sight. "I do not see why he would worry. You are loyal to Asgard." He said with complete conviction.

"The Allfather is more concerned with her loyalty to you, and not to Asgard." Loki scoffed scornfully. His eyes narrowed dangerously at the way Frigga had stared down the young bucks now made more sense to Loki. He hid his concern for the lie Kara told under the rage he could feel growing against Odin. The idea of her with anyone else made his body feel cold. He knew he was fast approaching a point where he would need to either pursue her, or let her go.

Thor began to snigger at the thought. "I believe that Kara is capable of choosing a husband who will not make her chose between Asgard and her family." His gaze lifted to Loki and he smiled widely, as if the subject didn't merit such concerns. Thor had his own hope for who Kara would choose to be her betrothed. While he knew it would make his life difficult as King, he truly wanted them both happy, and he could easily imagine the two of them together and blissful. Even if they did not decide to be together, he truly believed that Kara would never endanger the place Mother, Loki, or even he called home.

Kara sighed and looked away. "I do not see why it is such a huge concern suddenly." It was embarrassing having this conversation with them, knowing Frigga was routing for her to choose Loki, and her heart decided on that direction anyway. "It was never mentioned at all before your coronation." She reminded him softly, still trying to not draw too much extra attention to them.

"Only the once," Loki reminded her softly.

Thor looked at Loki and smiled. He was surprised his brother mentioned it but nodded. "Aye I heard of that conversation."

Kara looked uncomfortable. "Mother is even talking of a century long engagement if it is what I choose with on whomever I decide on. Still Odin is pushing this so hard suddenly. Does he have in mind someone do you think?" She asked them fearfully. She'd only regained access to her Foster Mother; she didn't want to lose it again because she and Odin were at odds about her choice of husband.

Thor shrugged as Loki stiffened next to her. If he hadn't been touching her still she wouldn't have noticed but his entire body locked in place for a moment as he took a deep breath. "I know not." Thor admitted softly. "You will not be forced, this I do promise you. I will oppose any measure that he makes that would force you to marry anyone you do not choose to."

Kara gave him an affectionate smile and grabbed his hand to bring him close enough to hug. Loki allowed her to pull from him to embrace Thor. "Thank you, Brother." She said, and for the first time it was with warmth, and true sentiment.

Thor couldn't help beaming back at her. A week ago he'd never have thought he'd have this kind of relationship with her. True it was hard to remember at times to hold his tongue, but his relationship with Loki was also healing because of that same restriction. The jealousy he'd felt on the helicarrier over Loki and Kara's relationship was less envious now as he began to understand his brother in a way he had not for centuries. He also understood now that he was not in competition with Loki for Kara's sisterly affections. It was obvious to him Loki was attracted to Kara. Kara's attraction to Loki was also obvious now that Fandral had pointed that out to him. It seemed they were not aware of the other's affections, which Thor found amusing.

Thor nodded sharply while Loki tapped at his lip in a thinking and nervous gesture. "You could always threaten to call for 'A Thing'. They have already confirmed you and there is no reason for Odin to still sit on the Throne other than your inability to control the Seiðr of Asgard." Loki murmured softly. "Odin would back off immediately if you did." Loki refused to call it the Odinforce now. The power was borrowed, and would leave Odin when he abdicated, fell into the Odinsleep, or died, which ever came first.

Thor scowled but nodded again. He knew what Loki was suggesting was a last resort if Odin decided for whatever reason to push Kara too far. If he could see how much Kara loved Loki, then he was sure Odin had too. There was no reason in his mind to keep them apart, unless Loki did not feel the same. He was unsure of Loki's affections, but he did not doubt for a second that Loki would be a good husband to Kara. He also had no doubt that Loki did at least love Kara; he just didn't know if it was as deep as the love he felt for Jane, or if it was deeper.

Loki tapped his lip again with his fingers as he thought back on what he'd seen of his parent's argument. He hadn't been paying that much attention to them until Odin had stormed out of the room. "Why was mother so angry?" He asked her, trying to assess everything.

Kara bit her lip. "She reminded him that he couldn't force me to accept a marriage, and if he tried, I'd rebel. And if he tried to force any of us, we would stand together. She also promised him she would stand against him if he tried to go after ' _any of her children'_." Kara quoted back to them.

That had both of them speechless. They both stared at her with their mouths hanging open slightly. Kara bit her lip harder. She didn't want to have to explain why their mother was so different, but she knew they were about to ask.

"She has seen something. Whoever it is she wants you with is the best choice, not only for you, but your mate, and for Asgard." Thor managed to say out loud after he swallowed hard at the thought of their mother standing against Odin. "Otherwise Mother would never stand against Father, only if she has seen something has she ever done so." He theorized. He was wrong but none of them knew that as so much of the Allmother and Allfather's relationship was behind closed doors, even to their 'children'. She had been different this past year, more outspoken, but not to this level.

Loki shook his head. "Nay, she cannot see us Thor." He reminded him once more.

"Something must have happened." Thor insisted. "She had to have seen something for her to change this drastically. We do not change as Kara does." He reasoned. It was true. Kara still thought and reacted and changed at the speed of mortals. Only her recent aging had stopped to become more normal for Asgardians to see.

"I yelled at her." Kara told them, her voice barely auditable with all the background noise. She felt like she was confessing a huge crime. Rarely did any of them ever dare to be disrespectful in front of the Queen. Even more rarely were they rude to her directly.

Both turned and gave her their full attention. Not intentionally but they were shoulder to shoulder looking down on her. It made her feel even worse and she bit her lip in embarrassment.

"I yelled at her when she had made Loki regent, and then wouldn't support him against the council." Kara admitted with a shake of her head as she kept her eyes lowered to Loki's chest. She knew with the others watching she couldn't hang her head as she wanted to. It would look submissive. "I had no idea she took what I said to heart." She raised her eyes and saw both were sharing a look of surprise and not anger directed at her. Neither of them would dare yell at Frigga. It was just not done. It reminded her once more about the argument that she needed to work harder to contain her temper.

Kara quickly filled them in on her side of what had occurred in Odin's room once Loki had left after their conversation together at Odin's bedside. She explained how she had ranted at Frigga about always making excuses for Odin when he hurt any of them. For his actions that often ended with them being forced into impossible situations, and then punishing them for failure.

Thor wasn't as surprised as he thought he should be. Kara was very protective of Loki, just as he was of her. He just knew of no one else who could take their mother to task in such a fashion. He stayed quiet as the reason for his mother's actions over the past year began to make even more sense to him. . Her insistence on educating him on his actions of the past, and the misunderstandings they had caused. His mother had laid much of the groundwork for his change of heart of this past week. While it might seem sudden to Loki and Kara, to Thor it had been a long year of trying to turn over a new leaf. His attitude adjustment had not been challenged until he had arrived on Midgard. Even he admitted he had failed dramatically in the first twenty-four hours. He was impressed with Kara's bravery.

With Loki gone, Frigga had hoped to change him enough that Thor and Kara could create this relationship they were attempting now. His mother obviously never considered that Kara would have, under no circumstances, forgiven him if Loki had not returned.

Loki nodded sternly, but surprised Kara by it being approving. "That would do it, since you backed that with a year of silence." He agreed with her reasoning for Frigga's change of heart and her actions since their return. He ran his hand up and down her back in a comforting, but possessive gesture.

"Agreed, it was needed." Thor added with a soft clap on her shoulder and a grin of approval. "The Allfather needs an advisor he will listen to now and again. Mother has always managed to get him to see things her way. This time will be no different." Thor as always seemed completely confident in his statement.

"We have stayed long enough for this evening." Loki told them as he looked once more around at the gathering young nobles with distain.

They quickly left the hall once more as a threesome. The nobles left behind were bewildered by the actions of all the different Royals that evening, but the consensus of those gathered that evening was; anyone who wished to court Princess Kara was going to need Prince Loki's approval, and possibly Thor's, before approaching Odin. Not one of the young nobles in the room even entertained the idea that Loki might find them worthy. Some of the more astute men even realized that to even attempt the courtship would see them in direct competition with the Dark Prince. None of those more intelligent nobles were willing to do that for a woman, even a princess.

Another several days past before Odin once more asked to speak to Kara alone. She had entered his private study and waited to be acknowledged. Odin was staring out the window at the falcons flying over the training grounds.

"Do you know why you were allowed within my house?" He asked her suddenly without turning towards her.

" _The Norns_ requested it." Kara answered quietly. She had no intention of making this conversation worse than it needed to be. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to go back to Midgard, and she wanted Loki to go with her. The only way that would happen was if Odin didn't think she would conspire against him, Asgard, and Thor.

Odin sighed and shook his head. "In all my years, _The Norns_ rarely have ever gotten involved with anything. Suddenly they are making demands of me." He growled softly, aggravated by the subject and the task before him. People bowed to his whims, not the other way around.

"I have never asked them to intervene." She reminded him softly, and yet still respectfully. "I would have been just as happy to have been sent on as a child, or raised by another family that would have accepted me as Frigga did."

Odin finally looked deeply in her eyes. She didn't flinch away. "Yes, I believe that you would have." He finally admitted. His expression held as he continued on, but he turned to look out his window. "You are a willful child. I often forget just how young you are." He sat back, his features suggested he warred within himself on what he should do.

And Odin truly was warring with himself. He feared a coalition between Loki and Kara. Any idiot could see how close they were. He'd even seen Loki's actions for what they were. He was a man slowly falling into love. It was a love that could last the test of time, even the lifetime of an Asgardian. The kind he shared with Frigga. But that left him fearful for Thor, and for Asgard. He never understood the early and deep attachment Kara and Loki shared, having never managing to bond with his adopted son as he had his own biological one.

There was a long silence. "Why would you not consider Thor?" He finally asked. It would have made life so much easier if she had loved Thor instead.

Kara blinked several times. She tried to even think of Thor in such a way and the only thought was 'Eww'. Her distaste for the idea was evident and Odin looked annoyed. "I am sorry Allfather, but my relationship with Thor is truly that of a sibling… rivalry and all at times. The idea seems incestual." She admitted truthfully while she still tried to get the feeling of wrongness to go away. It made her shiver with disgust.

Odin looked intrigued by the comment. "You truly think of Thor in such a way?" It had not occurred to him that she might have finally bonded to Thor as well, just not in a way he could hope to bind her to him. If those were her feelings then their bond since their return could be looked at differently than he had done so far. He'd seen signs of Thor and Loki's relationship being the same and yet more mature than it had been. The relationship between Kara and Thor was completely new. He'd thought it was only for Loki's benefit, not because she saw Thor as family.

Kara nodded and cocked her head to the side as she considered the situation as clearly as possible. "I have never liked Thor much until recently." She admitted to him. "He never made an effort to hide his antipathy of me, even if I spent most of my time with Frigga. I was an intruder, not a family member to him." She smiled as she thought of how much Thor had changed. "He had made great strides in the past year in curbing his arrogance, and his resentment. I find I like and respect him more now than I have ever. I can now see the man Loki and Frigga always told me he could be, once his arrogance was knocked out of him."

Odin stared at her with a calculating scowl. It surprised him to hear that Loki had defended Thor before his fall from the Bifröst. More still it irked him that they both had concerns of Thor's arrogance getting out-of-hand, and he had missed it. "And yet you do not consider Loki the same."

Kara blushed at the scrutiny and the subject. "I have had feelings for Loki in the past that does not allow for the same level of familial feelings." She admitted diplomatically. It was a gross understatement of her feelings, and she could tell Odin knew that from the tightening of his eyes as she reached for a pile of documents behind him.

"You love him." Odin sighed with regret. He placed a translated copy of Kryptonian mourning rites on the desk in her sight.

Kara's eyes narrowed. If Odin knew how long she mourned he already knew the answer. Even she had to admit she had taken the mourning rites as far as any convention could have been allowed. If her own biological mother had been alive she would have protested Kara's choice to mourn him as a mate, and not a proposed one. Kara had taken the excuse that Frigga had suggested it, and Loki had also known about the idea as permission to accept it as fact. Using Frigga's gift of sight, and her assurances they would be happy as fact. Brainiac also had approved the extension, and had enforced the ending date so she could not take it further.

"Yes," She admitted, "in more than one way. I love him. I always have. As a Kryptonian, I always will, even after death." She spoke calmly, but it was the first time she admitted aloud that she loved him as deeply as was possible, flaws and all.

Odin sighed and sat heavily in his seat. Unlike Loki who was still learning he loved her, Kara was already there. These rites were as sacred as any Asgardian ceremonies. Her mourning period stated her feeling and intentions. They were obvious to any who had read them. Frigga had verified what he had understood to be the actual limits of what should have been allowed, and what Kara had actually done. By the letter of the law Kara should have only been allowed a month maximum. By claiming Loki as an unconfirmed mate, she had been allowed eleven months, rather than the full twelve for a confirmed one. Brainiac hadn't allowed that last month, and Kara had accepted that.

The fact Brainiac had allowed for it, and supported it was as much a statement as any other. To have the computer agree with Kara's assessment of Loki's importance in her life meant she'd claimed him in heart as her mate. Kryptonians only had one mate usually. Arranged marriages were common, but love matches were encouraged. Breaking a love match was greatly discouraged, and in their culture was a step away from being law.

As much as Odin would wish otherwise, Kara's match was set, if Loki agreed to it. Odin had not illusions that Loki would walk away from one of two people in the universe that loved him unconditionally.

"I would need a vow from you before I allow such a thought to go beyond this room." He conceded with a feeling of doom in his heart. It was quickly countered with a surge of hopefulness and warmth from Kara. It gave Odin pause, but he pushed forward.

Kara tried very hard to not be hopeful, but failed. "I am listening." She replied quietly. The idea that he might bend and allow Loki to stay with her filled her with anticipation. She could feel waves of emotion wash through her, as it leaked from her aspect.

Odin kept his face stern but open. "I want a vow that you will stand against everyone, and defend Thor when Ragnarök comes. I want you to vow to defend Asgard, regardless of who attacks."

Kara raised a brow but wasn't offended by the request, yet. "That's it? Stand with Thor when Ragnarök comes?" She questioned, puzzled why Odin thought she would stand against Thor. Hadn't she just told him she considered him family? Even if Thor disappointed her and fell back into his old ways at times, she truly believed them to be on a road to be as close to being a true family as fosterlings and adopted siblings could be.

Odin glared thoughtfully, not at Kara herself. "Thor will not stand against Asgard; he'll be its King." He declared with certainty that Kara found slightly suspicious.

Kara took a deep breath. She smiled proudly and nodded her agreement "I can vow I will not stand against Thor, as long as he is in his right mind. I will not vow to support him if he ever falls under the influence of magic such as the one that controlled Loki." The ease of the scepter to control minds was a worry. One she wished she had thought more on at the time. SHIELD would have hidden it by now. She was unsure if the scepter itself had magic to control minds or if it was the seiðr of the controller and the scepter was just a conduit to direct his control.

Odin had started to become angry until the words she spoke got through to him. "You think he would fall into the hands of these Chitauri?" He scoffed angrily.

Kara shook her head, ignoring Odin's temper. "Their master is who I worry about. It managed to overtake the mind of one of Asgard's strongest arch-mages. If it could happen to Loki, I fear what it might do to Thor if it ever came to it." She confessed to him.

Odin sat back and considered her words. "That is a wise statement, and a wise precaution."

"I understand what you are concerned about." Kara told him with some compassion. "A year ago I'd have told you to go to Hel." She told him bluntly. "But now I will vow that as long as Thor is in his right mind I will support him, even against Loki. And I will defend Asgard until it can be saved no more."

Odin closed his eye in satisfaction. "That is what I desire." His shoulder's lifted as if the weight of a great burden had lifted. He also seemed more at peace. "A pledge so I never need fear Asgard being torn apart from the inside."

Kara shook her head in contempt. She didn't rant out loud but she wished she could have told him what she was thinking. _The fact that you ask this of me, makes you less worthy of that crown you wear,_ she thought bitterly. _That you cannot see his worth and his desire to be equal, but not wear that mantel shows how much you are failing as a father as you are a king. He never wanted it. He only wanted to make the burden less for Thor by being that which Thor was not_. She kept her face polite as she stalked away from his office without another word.

Kara took her rage and headed for the training fields. The training masters were quick to direct her to the advanced training area while many of the younger soldiers stared in awe. Thor had been generous with his praise of the actions of Kara on Midgard. These younger warriors would have heard all about her being banned from the grounds. The rest would have been present when she had burned a hole in Sif's shoulder. A path was quickly made for her to pass through. The area the masters directed her to was a three sided pit that was reinforced with stone. It was the area that was mostly used to evaluate advanced warrior training, and where Holmgang's were conducted. It had a very small spectator area above, much like a gladiator pit without a coliseum style seating for the masses.

It wasn't usually used for training, but the masters were unsure what type of training Kara was going to undergo in her current mood, nor did any of them wish to waste their time training her in modes of combat they could not use, or teach to others.

Kara started by going through some forms of katas she had learned on Midgard for meditation purposes, to try and sooth her emotions. She had noticed they were a bit more volatile this past year. That suggested her aspect was an emotion based one, or one controlled by her emotions. She had been doing her katas for nearly an hour before she became aware of several warriors standing above her. Tyr and Thor were there. Kara jumped up and joined them.

"Can I help you?" She asked, much calmer than she had been. The others were watching her with interest.

"What was that exercise you were doing?" Tyr asked her with a curiosity he only employed when it came to warfare in Kara's experience.

Kara smiled as she dipped her head in respect. "They are called katas. The motions to forms of Midgardian hand-to-hand combat. Moving slowly through the motions helps to build muscle memory and discipline. I also use it as a form of meditation." She described for him.

"I have also seen these moves used by the other Avengers." Thor had told him. "They are greatly effective in close combat."

"Show me." Tyr ordered with the air of a general.

Kara didn't mind and began to show him each of the movements she had made and why they were important. Tyr was thoughtful but not overly impressed.

"It is a good exercise." He admitted, still thoughtful but not overly accepting. "But not very effective as it is limited to hand-to-hand."

Kara smiled and proceeded to explain about the many forms of martial arts available on Midgard, and that she had only learned the ones for hand, knife, and dagger forms, so far since that was all she used there. Tyr looked more interested now and they ended up talking for a while about the forms she'd seen, but never studied.

After a while Tyr asked her to do a light spar with him.

"I must tell you, my strength has greatly increased while on Midgard." She warned him.

Tyr had smiled condescendingly at her and waved her on. He should have known better than to underestimate her. That had only been gauging each other at first, then Tyr had made one slap with his practice dagger that nearly touched her side. She had moved with some of her enhanced speed to get out of the way. He'd gone back to waiting for her to attack. It only took one spin-kick that he dodged expertly, followed by a dagger hilt to his temple too fast for him to follow to knock him to the ground. She had pulled her punch, even Tyr could see that once he was standing again.

"That was not expected." He admitted grudgingly. He'd never seen anyone move like Kara did. Even Loki, who's training and tactics were much faster and lethal than some other warriors, did not pair up attacks the way a Midgardian martial artists did. He had expected her to regain her footing first before attacking again. He'd also forgotten Kara didn't need to have her feet touch the ground before she could recover her footing, as she could literally stand on air.

"With my powers, I need a new way of fighting that is uniquely my own." Kara admitted with a shrug.

Tyr looked happy with her statement. "You will need a sparring partner if you are to improve."

The warriors that had started to drift over to see the spar between them began to shift uncomfortably. None of them wanted to train against a foe that wasn't going to 'fight fair'. Thor was amused and about to volunteer when Loki's voice came from his side.

"She'll also need someone who will not be surprised by the Midgardian tactics she employs." He was smirking but dressed in his sparing leather with his practice daggers at his waist. The others began to murmur about the 'cheating' and 'unfairness', glad it wasn't them that would have to fight with either of them.

Tyr saw something the others did not. Kara had winced and unconsciously moved to protect her abdomen. Loki had been watching Tyr and when he turned to look at what had caught his attention Kara was back to her relaxed stance.

"I think to begin with you will need to see about fighting as a team." Tyr finally said as he took in the stance of the two. Unlike the other warriors he had the confidence of Odin. He wanted to see the effect the wound had on the relationship between Kara and Loki. That wince told him she had not dealt with her own feelings yet.

He knew the Allfather's concerns and he did not agree. Anyone who read body language at the level of a master warrior as Tyr was, and had any understanding of court intrigue knew these two would be a formidable pair, possibly more deadly than the Warrior's Three at their height. There was a lack of trust there that needed to be reforged. The wound Kara had suffered at Loki's hand was an issue still. While she did not blame him, her body saw him as the threat he could be. Both needed to be built up a little battle comradery and see each other as tested allies in battle to help re-forge their bond.

He looked over the warriors that had been watching and picked two burly, arrogant men whom Tyr had been meaning to rein in lately. "Gunn and Hackett," He called startling the two warriors who had been glaring at the two lighter fighters. "You two will spar with their royal highnesses."

They had sputtered in outrage but did not actually forms words to voice their objections. Even they knew to not verbal oppose the highest General of Asgard.

Several hours later the pair had yet to get any serious hits on either Loki or Kara. She had allowed one of them to hit her full on to test her invulnerability on Asgard. It seemed to hold as the practice weapon crack in half and Kara wasn't even bruised.

Loki and Kara quickly relearned to dance around each other. They had practiced like this before. Unlike when she battled with Steve Rogers, Loki seemed to know when to move to one side, or switch a position without words. He also had centuries more experience than her, so she was the one making the mistakes, and he was compensating for her shortcomings. Strange tactics at times left her open to a riposte, Loki would close that opening and allow her to continue to move fluidly.

Tyr who was overseeing the training from a distance nodded in satisfaction. She would need more work, but she was a very young warrior. If only Odin wasn't intent on pushing her away she could be one of the best, certainly much better than Sif.

He had spent a great deal of time watching over his half-siblings. He knew what had happened on Midgard. The fact that Kara was willing to allow Loki to protect her without protest, or much stress also told him much. As much as certain Councilmen wished otherwise Tyr was now certain that Loki had been as Kara and Thor reported. He would stay on the side of Thor, the arguably true king of Asgard. With the alliance of Thor, Loki and Kara, only an idiot would stand against them all. Tyr was many things, a bastard of Odin's being one, but an idiot, had never been one of those things.

He needed to train the flicker of fear out of her when it came to the idea of sparing against Loki. He hadn't seen it any other time since her return. He too was certain Odin was making another mistake by standing in the way. Nothing would push Loki further into defiance than to deny him any happiness out of spite.


	14. Coming to Terms

SOA Part 3

Chapter 14 – Coming to terms

Kara came across Fandral quite by accident later that evening. After the training she had been tired and wanted some quiet peace to absorb the day. She had hidden in the rafters of the kitchen hall, hidden by the shadows near the sides. It was the one place Loki had never found her so it seemed the best place to hide as he seemed to want to speak to her about something, and she was too stressed to add anything else at the moment.

Below was where the meals for the night staff would be laid out. Guards would rotate in and out during the evening and overnight hours. She'd seen Sif earlier. She had looked angry and lonely as she ate alone in the corner of the room closest to the fire. The other guards avoided her sharp tongue and the other woman staff didn't even look at her.

Fandral had come in much later than most, and he was alone for several minutes when he called out. "I know you are up there. Come down into the light."

Kara had been surprised. No one had seen or heard her until then. Slowly Kara rolled off the beam and lowered her body down to the ground. Fandral was surprised to see her. "Princess, I did not know it was you. I had thought it was a kitchen child." He did the proper bow as he offered his explanation. Like Volstagg, the past year hadn't been kind to him. He looked well-toned and fit, but his mood was flat. His hair wasn't styled carefully as it always had been before, nor was his uniform clinging to his arms and chest the way his personal armor used to. His voice too was flat, no sign of his flirty manners, or courtly flourishes he was known for.

"Hello Fandral." She replied conversationally. "I did not mean to interrupt your meal." She gave him a polite smile and moved to leave the room.

"It is no trouble Princess." The sadness in his voice pulled at her. She stopped and turned toward him. Looking closer she saw what drew her attention. His eyes were dark. He lacked any hope of any kind. If she didn't know it was almost culturally impossible she'd think he was suicidal. Not that she discounted the idea and walked away.

She turned and faced him with concern. "Don't let me interrupt your supper." She told him, waving for him to be reseated.

She watched as he sat and moved to eat but it was almost robotic. She narrowed her eyes more and moved to sit across from him. He didn't dare to look her in the eye and she became more alarmed.

"Is there something I can do for you Princess?" He asked, almost nervously.

"You could explain why you backed Sif last year." She suggested curtly.

Fandral's head dipped forward a little further. "I didn't trust Loki. Everything seemed off. The whole thing went from Thor to Loki in less than a day. It seemed like a perfectly planned coup. It was just too easy, too simple." He's voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "Sif's explanation of Loki getting the Allfather to exile Thor, and then pushing him into the Odinsleep so he could rule… She made it seem so reasonable, so in character, doing it just to see if he could do it..." He sighed and shook his head. "I knew better. I knew Loki wouldn't have been able to make the Allfather do anything that extreme, but she made it sound plausible at the time."

"So you what, you went along to see what Thor thought?" She asked with disappointment. She had hoped for more.

Fandral just sighed. "Everything was happening so quickly. Then there were frost giants in Asgard! I was shocked, and I was worried it was the start of an invasion. We needed both; you and Thor, but mostly Thor to fight them back. I was barely on my feet having just been released from the Healing Halls." He hung his head in his hands, hiding his face. "I want to say it was just about Asgard, but to be honest I didn't understand the situation at all, and I should have."

They sat in silence for a while. Kara knew Fandral had been recovering from blood loss. It could have affected his cognitive abilities. It didn't excuse treason, but it did help lessen the severity of his crime in that at least he hadn't been thinking clearly.

Fandral continued to hang his head. "Loki deserved better, I know that." He finally said. "He was my friend. I was more worried about Thor and his well-being under your care, the frost giants too. I didn't see that he needed us just as much. I didn't see how much he needed our support."

Kara nodded slowly when Fandral's gaze flickered up to see if she understood his rambling. He knew it sounded like excuses, but he'd never have offered them if she had not asked. Even a year later he did not understand how he could have missed Loki's point of view. Of the entire troop, Fandral had considered himself a true friend to him. Yet at the first hint of doubt he'd followed after someone he knew to be a jealous shrew when it came to Loki and his relationship to Thor.

"Thor made an argument for your case with Loki." She offered with a hint of a smirk.

Fandral winced and looked even more hopeless at her words. Kara resisted the urge to snort, barely. "He did a good enough job that Loki listened."

Fandral's eyes popped out and he stared at Kara for a moment before his eyes dimed once more and he lowered his head even more. "I thank you for the kind words, but if Loki was moved it would not have been from Thor taking our side. We do not deserve it, except Volstagg, but I heard he was already forgiven."

Kara nodded slowly. "I would not lie to make you feel better." She told him neutrally. "If you go to Loki and apologize I can assure you, he will listen." Fandral didn't look up. "I can't guarantee he will forgive-"

"Forgive me Princess," Fandral interrupted her, "Loki does not forgive slights. He collects them, rightfully in some cases, not in others." He sighed and pushed his dinner away. "I have made my bed, and I will lie in it." He looked haunted as he stared at her once more. "My actions caused the death of a Prince of Asgard, or at least what very well should have been, as no one survives the Void."

As he got up to leave she tried one more time. "He deserves the apology anyway." She whispered to him. "You wonder why he collects those slights. It's because no one offers the apologies when they are proven to be in the wrong. Man up and offer him what he is entitled to."

Fandral stopped and without looking back he said. "Nothing I say will ever be enough, but I will give him what I can. You are right, he deserves at least that much, and it is all I can offer him now, as much as I wish it was not. He deserves more."

A few days later, at the two week mark after they had arrived, Odin sent Thor out on an errand. Loki and Kara were unsure when they would be allowed to return Midgard. Asgard itself was in good shape, and the people had been happy to see both Loki and Kara back. Odin and Loki still avoided one another. They avoided taking meals at the same time and making an effort to leave a gathering before the other was expected. Kara didn't know if they had reconciled in anyway and she'd be surprised if they had. Fandral had offered his apology to Loki. They had talked for over an hour, afterward he had not asked for forgiveness, but with a nudge from Kara, Loki offer it anyway. He'd told Fandral's captain so he could return to his previous duties in Thor's retinue, though not as a full companion as before.

Loki hadn't spent any time with Fandral after that, and both of Thor's old friends went with him when he left for his errand to put down a group of marauders near the borderlands. It seemed Odin was trying to re-create Thor's friendships with forced bonding. Volstagg or Fandral both refused to push their friendship. They never asked, or expected to be considered more than any other man under Thor's command for the short excursion. That more than any words made Thor feel a little better about the chances that they would be more accepting of Loki this time, once they all managed to reconnect. Even he knew Loki needed more time to accept that they had truly changed. Thor did not, only because he had seen the changes as they happened. Like himself the past year had a great amount of time for reflection.

Sif had not come near either Kara or Loki directly. Hogun has returned to Vanir nearly six months ago and not written to anyone. Thor had told them Sif had come to him and offered her apologies for being wrong once more, but Thor had directed her to Loki. He told her it was not his place to offer forgiveness for Loki, and she would have to request it from him herself. She had not come near Loki that Kara was aware of.

While Thor was away Kara and Loki had continued to pair up in sparing challenges with whatever warriors Tyr could throw at them. Kara was learning how to use her new skills against Asgardian forces. Adapting the skills was harder than she had thought, but Loki was helping her to see what was working and what wasn't. He was allowing hits through when she made mistakes that would be fatal in a real battle so she could learn from them.

Thor had been due back on the fifth day. Loki and Kara had headed to the sparing field only to see no other warriors were standing near the pit. Only Tyr was there.

"Are we sparing you today?" Kara had asked with a bit of a smile.

Tyr looked sternly at her and shook his head. "No, I wish to see what you have learned. You will spar with Loki."

Tyr was pleased to see Kara's reaction was only a small movement of her hand. Loki had seen the movement and he'd closed his eyes with regret.

He'd had no control at all when he'd stabbed Kara. With the Scepter in his hand once more, the control had been complete. 'The Leader', as he thought of the beast, had wanted to kill the human man with the strange gun for daring to threaten his plans. Kara's appearance had been too sudden. He had not had time to react to try and take control of her. Loki hadn't had any time to react either before the blade had entered her body.

Loki had only managed to blast the wall and leave the healing stone, because the creature wanted another chance at controlling her in the future. His actions were more along the lines of a car in idle with no brakes being applied. The beast hadn't stopped him, but also wasn't allowing him to do what needed to be done to save her. It was as if he was leaving the tools, but didn't make the choice of if she lived or died.

Loki turned to her with only the slightest indication of pain in his eyes. It was the only clue that Kara's reaction had hurt him. Kara immediately lowered her hand and shook her head of the image of Loki's body stabbing her. She knew that would never happen again. She knew that!

Kara lifted her eyes challengingly and bowed her head to Tyr. "I suppose you want him to use a spear or something similar to the scepter he was wielding?"

Tyr raised his brows in approval. "If you think that you can handle it Princess. I was going to suggest daggers first so you could get used to the idea first. The automatic reaction of physical shielding away after trauma is a portion of your training that has been skipped due to your physical nature." He explained to her. Kara hadn't realized that she had been pardoned from a portion of her training. "I had no intention of finding a way to undo your invulnerability just so we could hurt you enough to produce this reaction."

She'd been hurt before her invulnerability had reached the level it even before she had left for Midgard, where the ability had gotten much stronger. Due to her speed and the blunt training weapons on Asgard she had never had a stab wound before. Bumps, bruises and of course strained muscles and light injuries as it developed, yes, but no training blade had ever penetrated her body.

She hadn't been aware that penetrating wounds had a part in training other than healing purposes. Now that she had experienced one she could understand the recovery process would be a normal part of warrior training. Asgardian's very rarely died in their first battles. Commanders never allowed completely green troops on the field as anything other than messengers. All troops were bloodied as she had been, on small scale battles with bandits and pirates. Wounds were normal, and first kills always required a small amount of re-training afterwards, at least the best warriors needed it. Those that enjoyed the killing too much were often given ever harder retraining and mental conditioning.

Loki appeared ready to object but Kara nodded and regarded him gratefully. "I was told that despite some parts of my training being overlooked that I had earned my armor." She glanced curiously down at her armor wondering if she had truly earned it.

Tyr shrugged but looked passively calm. "I approved your rank. It did have the caveat that if you were injured in this manner that you were to be retrained with this oversight in mind." He gestured to her abdomen. "I knew it would happen one day, but I had no intention stabbing you just to complete your training, even if I had known you were susceptible to magical weapons. Usually it happens during the first training missions, so the trainers are not required to go to such extremes usually."

Loki watched with guarded eyes. Kara's agreement didn't surprise him. She didn't have much patience with weakness in herself. In others she could allow it, but not herself. He'd understood that the first time he'd seen her screaming at the image of her biological mother about allowing the planet to explode and sending her away. She had started screaming and shooting her heat vision at the image. It had taken Loki hours to calm her completely. She had confronted the image for months before she stopped flinching when she was faced with it unexpectedly. Once she no longer responded to it, she had finally agreed to stop using the image portion of the interface for a while. It seemed she and Tyr thought this would be the best way for her to face her fear of him.

Kara turned to him with a grim smile but it dropped to a pained frown as she saw his expression. "I'm not afraid of you." She promised him as she rushed to reassure him of that fact. "I am unused to being hurt, and that is what my body is responding to." Loki nodded but his expression remained guarded. She growled and reiterated, "I am not afraid of you."

Tyr shot Loki an aggravated frown. "This is exactly why I waited several days for you both to rebuild battlefield trust before moving you to face one another." He articulated him with his arms crossed. "She now has body memory that responds naturally to you protecting her. Now it's time for her to face being injured again." He paused and gave him a long look that he often used with recruits. "You do remember this part of your own training."

Kara gave Loki a beseeching look. "You are the only person on Asgard who can defeat me when I have my powers. I need you to truly spar with me so I can improve." She begged him. "I trust you Loki, I truly do. I would not be willing to let you near me with any blade if I didn't. We both know all of your daggers, but the Thor one, are enchanted!" Tyr couldn't help but snort at Kara's reminder of Loki's special dagger.

The 'Thor Dagger' was a tiny blade that Loki only used to stab Thor when the man was being annoying or an idiot. He'd last used it during the Battle of New York, the first time was when he'd been a child and Thor had been teasing Loki about not being allowed to use real weapons. Loki had stabbed him after hiding as a snake to lure Thor in close to prove daggers could be true weapons in the right hands.

Kara's main weakness was magic. She had so little of it herself that she was susceptible to magical weapons, such as the scepter, or spells. She had some mild resistance to mind spells, such as simple compulsions, but only because Frigga had taught her, by pushing her mind, until it built a resistance to it. Anything stronger and she required someone to fix the effects. With SHIELD now in possession of a weapon that could cause damage to Kara, it was imperative that she not freeze when faced with that same weapon. If she could face Loki while he was wielding it, no human stood a chance.

Loki pulled a similar sized spear from his weapons stash in his dimension pocket, and then molded it into a replica of the scepter with magic. It didn't have the same evil aura, and it felt comfortable in his hand. The original scepter had been crafted to be the perfect weapon for Loki, with both height and weight of it being more than a human equivalent would have been. It could channel magic without interference or resistance, and it was a perfectly balanced glaive that could be used in the many different ways Loki favored.

"Let's begin." Tyr called authoritatively. Loki and Kara entered the ring and began to spar cautiously at first. Kara kept her right side back, making some of her regular moves a little awkward as she twisted in the opposite way that she has accustomed to. After several minutes when Loki didn't take the chances she was opening to him as he normally would, she began to shift back into a natural line. She realized he wasn't going to attack that side this first time out.

Once she stopped protecting her right side Tyr also stepped further back, and allowed them to run their drills. It was a good step for her. She'd allowed Loki close to her right side without thought during their sparing partnership with one another in the past week. She was also watching Loki's movements more than the scepter after approximately fifteen minutes today, which was also a huge step. It was also a weakness that was common and the main reason for this type of training. Fear that altered fighting styles had no place on the battlefield.

Loki had been right, she was afraid of the weapon. Tyr would have to get their sparring partners to use replicas against her during the next few weeks. She needed to stop focusing on the scepter instead of the actions of the fighter she was facing. Loki was purposefully telegraphing his attacks and she was missing many of the signs. Still she was in the ring against him while he wielding the weapon in question. It was actually the hardest step in the retraining of foot soldiers. Tyr decided he was going to pull her active listing until she could finish her retraining.

At the end of the day Kara was tired and hungry, but satisfied that she could continue without needing a master of Tyr's status to oversee her retraining. Loki qualified as a weapons master if she needed to finish more training after they left Asgard. That was if she could get approval for Loki to come with her from Odin, and if Loki would want to.

She'd had to stay with Tyr to discuss what he wanted from her. Loki had disappeared while they had been talking. After she had cleaned up she had gone looking for him, but it seemed Loki wasn't in any of his usual haunts. She'd seen Thor return when she'd checked the stables to see if Loki's horse was out. No one had seen him. She was feeling more than a little guilty and sad that he was avoiding her. At dinner he'd arrived late and sat next to Thor and his friends. From the sounds of the tales coming from that side of the table Kara wasn't going to get a chance to talk to him this evening. Thor had invited her to join them, but Kara had given him a warm welcome home, but declined to stay with her Mother during dinner.

Frigga had talked to her about the events of the day, and some of the gossip. None of it had been all that interesting to Kara and she picked at her food throughout the meal. She was planning to retire early when Heimdall's messenger arrived with a dispatch for her. She thanked him as she took the note.

 _I thought you'd like the actual words yelled by your friend Tony Stark_ , Heimdall wrote.

" _Hey Heineken, Can you tell Blue that Speedy Gonzales is here with another friend? They delivered her message in a bottle and have a reply."_

 _They are at the Malibu mansion, awaiting your return._

Kara's gasp was so loud it actually carried to Thor's side of the table. The wave of hope, happiness and anticipation swept outward in a huge slightly visible wave of glittery red and gold aspect magic. The wave crashed over the whole of the hall and everyone stopped to look towards the head table and Kara.

Even Odin who hadn't had much to feel hopeful for on the past few years felt his heart swell with the unexpected wave of magic from Kara's aspect outburst.

Frigga looked lovingly at her beloved daughter with tears of happiness. She'd wondered what Kara's aspect could possibly be. Hope was such a powerful aspect, but would be underrated within Asgard, much like Kara herself. No one would care too deeply about it, and that would be a good thing for Kara.

Before she could tell Kara about the revelation she had turned to Frigga and held out her Lokistone amulet. "Can you charge it please? I have to get to Midgard as soon as possible."

Frigga nodded and held the stone in her hand, charging the stone enough that Kara would not have to wait an hour in the magic well of Asgard to absorb enough energy to return on her own.

"What has happened?" Frigga asked her. The question echoed through the now quiet hall as everyone had stopped to look towards the new 'Goddess of Hope'.

"Barry Allen has returned from his Earth." She told her with her own eyes filling with tears of light. A single tear that held a 'Mother of Pearl' color that left no tracks on her face as it fell. Frigga was quick to catch it on her finger as she pretended to wipe it away. Kara hardly noticed. "He's back, and that means he found Kal El. I have to go, now!"

Before Frigga could say more Kara had turned to dash out the door at a rate that Barry himself would have had trouble keeping up with. Frigga turned to look toward Loki who looked angry and ashen. "Follow her." She ordered with a wisp of magic so only Loki could hear her whisper. "You will lose her to her own Void if you do not."

Loki stared at her looking torn. "Go, or she might never return and be cursed by _The Norns_ for it." Loki left the hall before she allowed herself to admit that was little a very large over-exaggeration. It wouldn't do for him to know that Kara would return because she had made oaths, just the ones to Kal El would make her linger if she did not have Loki with her.

Odin leaned over. "Hope?" He questioned. His own tone was wistful.

Frigga turned the hardening tear over so that it landed into her hand. "She produced a 'Tear of Light'. She is truly the 'Goddess of Hope'."

Odin nodded softly as he stared at the Tear. It was small, but she was a young and untrained. Once she was a true goddess in control of her power she would be able to make tears large enough to power great healing magic, among many other deeds for Asgard.

Loki had grabbed Thor's arm and teleported them both to Kara's balcony. Thor had been sitting in a chair and fell to the ground now that the chair was no longer under him as he unexpected rematerialized without the chair.

"Loki, what is the meaning of this?" Thor roared, but his good mood from the magical burst from Kara colored his mood, and his mirth rivaled his annoyance for being unexpectedly dropped on his ass. He was also somewhat happy about it; Loki hadn't played any pranks, good-natured or evil, against him since before that horrible day of his failed coronation.

"Kara is leaving." Loki replied tensely. "Mother fears she will not return." Thor's brows nearly came together as he tried to understand what was happening.

"After the effort she has put into your reputation's redemption I do not find that likely Br- Loki." Thor replied still somewhat confused as to why Kara would be leaving.

Kara had heard their entrance as she packed a few things from Krypton that she had left in Asgard. Information crystals and other things that would help prove who she was to Kal El. Things she was supposed to have taught him, like family history, just in case anyone else was off-world at the time of the destruction, or managed to escape the planet. She'd had no need of them while on Midgard as Kal El wasn't there. Now that she was going to meet him, she made sure to bring those crystals and the few items that had been replicated by Brainiac. Mostly they were the reading primers and such. Kal El's computer should have the same information, but Kara wanted to be able to teach him Allspeak eventually, and it would help if he learned Old Norse first. Kara hadn't, and it had made learning the language much more difficult than it needed to be later on when the Allspeak kept automatically translating her words.

Kara poked her head out the doorway and rolled her eyes at him. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her eyes were brighter than they had seen ever. "I am going to return… I'm just not sure when." Kara admitted but she popped back inside just as quickly. They followed her in and Loki's heart dropped. She had all her hidden secrets laid out and was packing them.

"What of Asgard, and Midgard?" Loki snapped, "Are you going to abandon those oaths?"

Thor was lost. "Abandon Asgard, surely you are not doing that?" He looked to Kara who wasn't looking at either of them as she began wrapping the crystals carefully and placing them in her bag. "You are not abandoning our new alliance already?"

Kara looked up surprised. "Oh no, I just have to fulfil my oaths to Kal El first." She explained with excitement clearly written on her face. "Once I know he is fine, and doesn't need me, I will be able to return. My first duty needs to be to him. My oath to him comes before all others as it was my first, and to my family."

Thor was torn between wanting to be happy for her, and deep worry about what her departure would mean for their relationship and his relationship with Loki. He knew Kara was the only reason Loki gave him the time of day. It was obvious now what had Loki so agitated, but he didn't understand the situation yet. "But Kal El isn't here." Loki looked at Thor quickly, he'd forgotten in his annoyance that Kal El was in a different multiverse. He also hadn't realized this was about Kal El.

"Barry Allen is back, and he can get me to Kal El." Kara gushed excitedly. "I guess, I never told you about Barry Allen, did I?" She asked them both. She stopped packing long enough to give them both a bashful smile.

She gave them both a quick rundown of her meeting with Barry 'The Flash' Allen from the last year. As she told the story Loki grew more and more concerned. Frigga's warning was beginning to make more and more sense. If Kara took too long in this other Multiverse, _The Norns_ , who were not known for their patience or benevolence, would punish her. If she missed the window in which she needed to be in this multiverse, they might curse her for all multiverses. The amount of power _The Norns_ welded was unknown, but Loki could imagine it was nearly limitless.

Thor was just gobsmacked, "So this human can jump from multiverse to multiverse?" Thor of course understood the theory involving multiverses. Like everyone else, Kara was the only dimensional traveler he had ever met. He wasn't a bigot about humans as some other Asgardians were. Their advancements in the past century were astounding. He was equally astonished by the idea that a human could easily jump from one multiverse to another, not just randomly, but to specific ones. It was something that Asgardian scholars had written off as impossible several millennia ago.

"So he has been to your original Midgard… and he has met your cousin?" Thor clarified slowly; his tone carried his astonishment clearly.

"That's what the message said. Barry had an answer for me." She verified happily as she kept packing her bags carefully.

Thor sighed and leaned against his doorway. "I had meant to update you both tomorrow, but Asgard is facing a large number of minor rebellions." He explained to them both. "As such I am going to have to stay and travel the back routes to put down as many as I can. I had hoped to ask you both to join me on a few of the larger rebellions." The back routes were the jump points required to travel from Realm to Realm. They would require Thor to travel through space to get to each place.

Loki looked torn. He knew how much Kara would want to see Kal El. He was not thrilled that she had bonded with this 'superhero' Flash. He was also very apprehensive of her leaving their multiverse without him. His own oaths to Asgard and the Nine Realms were pulling at him to help Thor.

"How long until those offenses will be taking place?" Loki questioned. He couldn't see Tyr going into a large rebellion without proper planning.

Thor shrugged thoughtfully. "At least several weeks, I have a few minor ones to deal with closer to home." He admitted to them.

Loki nodded slowly. That gave them little time to go and see Kal El and then return to see to their own responsibilities. Asgard would need them all, so he would need to finish her re-training.

Kara also would need to monitor the situation on Midgard better than they had been since their return. She had been depending on Tony and Darcy to keep the peace and to inform her if she was needed in the aftermath of the Battle of New York. So far they hadn't sent word, but Loki wanted to check on the World Council and see what the outcome had been to Kara's threats.

"What of Midgard while I am gone?" Kara asked as her eyes drifted to Loki. "Do you think you could-?"

"No," Loki cut her off coldly. He glared at her for even suggesting it. "If you insist on going to this other Multiverse I will go with you. You need a weapons master." He reminded her.

Thor looked surprised at Loki's answer. "I would think you would stay and help me with the rebellions. At least your world-walking would help get us where we need to be faster."

Loki shook his head and materialize the replica of the scepter. Kara instantly shielded away from it before she caught herself and looked down in shame at being caught out. Thor's mouth opened in surprise but understanding dawned on him as Loki dematerialized the scepter. "No, Kara will need me more."

Loki turned to Thor with determination. "Go to the witch mountain." He ordered him harshly. "Ask, nicely, to speak to Mishera. Tell her I sent you to ask for a World Walker to help you until I can return. Tell her she can write off one of the favors she owes me." He paused before he sighed with agitation. "Do not let her foster Boda on you. That woman is trouble, anyone but Boda."

The older woman had taken an interest in Loki that had unsettled him. Her insistence that their souls had once entwined in other times had caused nightmares for several weeks while he was learning the skills to walk the Realms. He'd finally petitioned Mishera for permission to banish her from his presence. As her Master, Mishera had instead sent her to another Realm until Loki's own apprenticeship had ended. They hadn't come face-to-face since and Loki was in no hurry to change that.

Thor looked between them and he understood. Mother must have warned Loki of something disastrous if he did not go with her. Also as a weapon master that knew the issue he was best to train Kara through her battle damage re-training. "Then you both should leave soon, before Father decrees you both to stay."

The three shared a goodbye. Kara even hugged Thor tightly. "You are well on your way to being the brother to us both that you wish to be. Don't lose that. We both shall return once my oath is fulfilled." Loki even allowed Thor a quick hug, though he didn't return the affection as warmly. Thor was still thrilled with the progress.

They both quickly gathered their things and Kara was about to fly away when Loki stopped her. "I will get us to Midgard. There are other paths, and I can get us there without using the pendent." Kara began to protest.

Loki ignored her questions as he reached into his pocket and pulled out three different packs of twigs. All were different sizes. He pulled the smallest one out and put the other two in his pocket. He breathed on the twigs and they jumped out of his hand and quickly unfolded into a flying two-man fishing skiff.

"Seriously, what are the other two?" Kara laughed as she stepped onto the boat.

Loki stepped to the tiller at the back of the tiny Viking ship. It was no bigger than a large canoe but twice as wide. "One is a regular sailing skiff and one is a longboat." He told her with a shrug. "Where in the United States are we headed?" Loki asked her as he settled at the tiller of the boat.

Kara leaned back restfully but faced forward so she could see the landscapes as they sailed. "Malibu, they are at Tony's mansion."

"Then we are on our way to Malibu." Loki told her as he turned the skiff from her balcony towards the outer edge of Asgard. He raced full speed towards the cliff face that had the many openings to the other Realms. Kara threw up her hands as if she were riding a roller-coaster and screamed in joy. Loki couldn't help but smile at her antics. He loved this part of sky-walking. It was always such a rush.

The End of Part 3


End file.
